Never Sleep in a Strange Man's Bed
by WndrngY
Summary: B & E. Alice's new boyfried Jasper lives on Hilton Head Island, S.C. He invites her & her friends to come down for a visit. Bella isn't happy to be the only single in a couple's paradise...until she ends up in his roommate's bed.
1. Chapter 1 Beginning at the End

**Chapter One**

**Beginning at the End**

**Bella's POV**

I couldn't get comfortable in this strange bed, this strange house, with the unmistakable murmurs and moans emanating from one or both of the other two bedrooms. It was hard to tell where exactly the noises were coming from and I was trying hard not to listen anyway. Why did I come on this vacation to sugar-coated hell? Because Alice and Rose had begged and pleaded and even Alice's new boyfriend, Jasper, whom I'd never met, asked to speak to me on the phone and implored me in his honeyed southern voice to please come to Hilton Head Island for the long weekend.

_"__Alice __just __won__'__t __be __able __to __enjoy __herself __if __you __don__'__t __come __along,__" __he __drawled.__ "__And __I__'__d __sure __like __the __chance __to __meet __you __after __all __I__'__ve __heard.__"_

_"I've heard a lot about you, too, Jasper, and I do want to meet you but—"_

_"You're worried about being a third wheel?" he guessed._

_"A fifth wheel actually," I laughed briefly and then sighed. "You know, since Rosalie and Emmett are coming."_

Rosalie is Alice's other best friend and my brother, Emmett, is her long-time boyfriend. Alice met Jasper at a buyer's conference on Hilton Head three months ago and they had been crazy, madly in love ever since, despite living thousands of miles apart on opposite coasts. We all live in Seattle and Jasper was born and raised and still resided on the resort island in South Carolina_._

_"Well, I wish my roommate was going to be home this weekend to even out the numbers, but he'll be out of town."_

_"Thanks, but I the only thing I hate more than being a fifth wheel is being foisted on the nearest available male for a mercy date," I admitted. Jasper sounded so nice and warm, but there was more to my reluctance to come along on this obvious couples weekend. I wondered if Alice had told him about my recent break-up. _

_"I really wish—" Jasper started to say._

"_Jasper, can I just plan to come another time without offending you? I really do want to meet the guy who has Alice so completely smitten that she's missing the biggest designer shoe sale of the season!" I teased._

"_I'll leave it between you and the girls, but just know I wish you'd come along, Bella. I plan to be in Alice's life from now on, so that means I'll be in yours, too."_

My heart had given a weird sort of lurch at that. I could hear his love for my friend and I even though I rejoiced for her, I lamented for my pathetically sad, selfish self at the same time. I wanted someone to talk like that about me. I wanted that so badly it hurt. Because I thought I had it and I'd been so terribly, embarrassingly wrong. How would I know when I did have it for real? And worst of all, what if I never did?

Of course, resistance was futile. I don't know why I bothered. After all these years I know that Alice Brandon gets what Alice Brandon wants. And that's why I'm trying to sleep in Jasper's roommate's big, comfy, but alien-feeling bed after a full day of air travel, brilliant sunshine and cringe-worthy PDAs from both of my favorite couples.

I was honestly trying to enjoy myself. The island was beautiful, the people were so sweet it was almost painful, and Jasper was everything Alice had built him up to be and more. I was so happy for them both. And I had known Rose and Emmett were destined for each other even before I introduced them. But, honestly, how much does it suck to be the only single person in a full-out romantic couples' paradise? It sucks truckloads. And it was exhausting trying not to let my misery show so I didn't ruin it for the rest of them.

I was so grateful to put on my comfy cotton nightshirt and slip into bed, anxious to let my mental and physical exhaustion take me. But it didn't. Damn, damn, damn…fuck! That's right, you heard me. I was cranky and lonely and reverting to petulant adolescence.

The door knob turned just as I was considering getting up to get my book out of my luggage to read for a while. The door opened slowly and quietly, dim light spilling into the room from the hall.

"Hello?" I said, unintentionally sounding a tad defensive.

A man's voice uttered a startled half-yell and then laughed in embarrassment.

"Oh, you're awake." The smooth, vibratory voice cut through me like a warm knife through butter.

"Um, sure. I guess?" I stammered and stuttered.

"May I turn on a light, please?" he asked, chuckling. If he was a mad rapist, he was the politest, sexiest sounding one I'd ever heard of.

"Uh, maybe. Who are you?" I asked, cursing my idiot tongue and befuddled brain.

"Sorry," he said and a light snapped on, blinding me temporarily. "I'm Jasper's roommate, Edward Cullen. This is my room."

I shaded my eyes with my hand to give them a chance to adjust. "Oh! I'm sorry. I'll get out of here. I thought you were out of town."

"No, don't go! Are you—You're Bella, right?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, Jasper's told me all about Alice and all of you. Listen, I was supposed to be out of town, but there was a change of plans and I just got home. I knew Jasper was having Alice and the other couple down this weekend, though I heard you weren't coming. But, when I saw my door was closed, I figured someone was in here." The dim outline of his shape was beginning to take form in my still fuzzy vision.

"The couch is fine. I don't want to kick you out of your own room," I insisted, throwing the covers back and beginning to slide out of his bed. I thought I heard him gasp, but the next moment his voice was smooth as ever.

"Well, the couch is comfortable and would be fine for either of us, but it's currently occupied by our neighbor, Jake. I found him in his car when I came in. He locked himself out of his house and his roommate isn't due back until morning, so I offered him the couch before I knew I didn't have a place to sleep."

I meant to answer. I thought of a couple of responses, but unfortunately, my eyes had adjusted and my brain disconnected from my mouth as I gazed dumbfounded at the man before me. He was nothing short of beautiful with his fine-planed bone structure, brilliant green eyes and tousled reddish hair. Bronze. His hair was bronze-colored. He had a sleek, muscled physique and he moved with an easy, assured grace as he took off his watch and crossed the room unbuttoning his dark blue button-down. He hung it up in the closet and turned back to me, wearing a plain white t-shirt and his charcoal gray dress pants.

"Don't worry about it. If it's okay with you, we can both sleep in here. It's a big bed and I'm too tired to seduce you." He gave me a sly, lopsided grin and my traitorous body flushed bright red while thrilling to the idea of being seduced by this vision of male perfection.

"Ha!" I snorted inelegantly. "So if you weren't too tired, it wouldn't be safe for me to sleep in here?"

He grinned even wider. "Hmmm. I'll have to think about that. But for tonight, you'll be safe. Okay?"

I debated for all of two seconds. "Sure. What else can we do? I sure don't want to sleep on the floor. And it is your bed after all."

Edward excused himself to the bathroom. I tried to calm my raging hormones. I glanced around the room, across the bed that seemed suddenly smaller, and then down at myself. Oh my fucking god! My night shirt had come unbuttoned below my cleavage and I was exposed to the very edge of one of my nipples. Not to mention that when started to slide out of the bed I had hiked the usually almost knee-length shirt up to my crotch. Holy crow, what a show I had put on! I quickly buttoned-up and rearranged my pajamas and pulled the covers up to my neck.

Now wearing cotton pajama pants and his t-shirt, Edward came back from the bathroom and gave me a questioning smirk when he saw my impression of a caterpillar in a cocoon. He turned off the light and slid into bed, keeping carefully to his side.

Into the darkness he spoke in that smooth, sensuous voice, "Good night Bella Swan. I look forward to getting to know you better tomorrow."

"G'night E-Edward," I choked out, clamping my legs together against a wave of sexual longing that was completely inappropriate and counter-productive.

Surprisingly, I fell asleep fairly quickly. Probably my body and mind's way of giving me a reprieve from my discomfort and embarrassment.

My body was burning with a delicious, welcome fire. One strong hand was running over the curve of my hip, encouraging the connection between my ass and what was obviously an erection of impressive proportions. The heat coming off of the body curved flush against mine was making me slick with sweat and I wanted my damp nightshirt off. As if he had read my mind, his hand slid under the hem and worked it over my head. I realized with a shuddering gasp that he was already naked when he pressed back up against me. I moaned and startled myself half-awake with the wanton sound of it.

Edward! Edward was naked and working my now all-but-naked body into a frenzy. Somewhere my conscious mind was swimming desperately for the surface, attempting to shout out orders: _Stop!__This__is__crazy__and__wrong!__You__don__'__t__even__know__him!__This__isn__'__t__you,__Bella!__You__'__ll__regret__it__tomorrow!_ But my subconscious mind took advantage of my half-sleep state and the flood of hormones to drown my conscience into silence.

His hand moved silkily against my sweat-soaked skin, skimming my hip, along my sensitive side, stopping at the swell of my aching breasts. He cupped one in his talented hand, his thumb grazing the electrified peak over and over, sending the shocks straight through me. I arched and stretched away from him and then fitted back against him, eliciting an animalistic growl from deep in his throat.

Suddenly, his hand slid to my shoulder and he pulled me onto my back, covering my mouth with his. The kiss was…more than a kiss. It was an experience in and of itself, that made this whole damnable trip worthwhile. His lips were soft and full, and he used them to command my response and inform me of all the things he wanted to do to me without saying a word. And again, I didn't hesitate long enough to even think it through. I answered him wordlessly, acquiescing to his plans and communicating my desires.

God, he had talented hands! And then he lowered his mouth to my already taut nipples, teasing and sucking gently at one then the other and back again. I was moaning, almost crying for release from the exquisite torture. I needed more, I needed attention to other inflamed areas of my body. But as my hands wove into his hair, he hesitated, and moved back up to my neck.

"Bella…" he breathed shakily in my ear. "Is this…? I- I'm sorry I started this. I was asleep, I swear, and then…"

I froze with mortification. He was _asleep?_ Was he dreaming I was someone else? Did he have a girlfriend? He was _sorry_ he started this? Oh god, please kill me now. I'm lying naked and sweaty in a stranger's bed, desperate to fuck him senseless and stupid til dawn and he's _sorry_ he started this?

"Bella? Please say something," he begged. His hot breath on my ear was not helping. I tried to respond, but what was there to say? Where could I run and hide in this house of horrors? Wake up Alice and Jasper or Rose and Emmett to climb into bed with them and confess my delusional, latent sluttiness? Ask the neighbor on the couch to skooch over and warn him that I might ravish him in his sleep given half a chance? Shit. I wanted to be home in my own cold, lonely bed.

Edward started to pull away, but I held him to me instinctively for a second before letting go like I'd been burned in the bad way.

"I'm sorry," I choked, trying not to cry. "I thought… you wanted me. This isn't like me. I'm sorry."

"Bella, no! No, I didn't mean I didn't want you! Can't you tell how much I want you?" He moved gently against me as if to illustrate his point with the hardness against my thigh. I jerked away from him again, further humiliated by the lewdness of the gesture. Well, act like whore, get treated like a whore, I guess.

"I can tell you want sex," I whispered, surprising myself. "I just don't like being a random available outlet."

This time he slid further away quickly and completely. "I'm sorry," he muttered stiffly. "That's why I was apologizing. I know that's how it seemed."

He stood up and pulled on his pajama pants and t-shirt in the half-light from the moon streaming in the windows. He handed me my nightshirt and kept his back to me as I pulled it on over my riled up body's screaming protests. He laid down again on his side, facing me.

"Bella, I swear, I get really hot at night and I stripped off my pajamas in my sleep. I don't usually wear them. I was dreaming and I guess when my body came in contact with yours… I didn't mean to…I don't know what to say."

After a long awkward moment, I forced a laugh. "I can see how it happened, Edward. Let's just try to forget it. It's not like I freaked out and started screaming rape, right? I'm sorry I didn't stop it right away. I guess I was pretty soundly asleep for most of it, too." Okay, that was stretching the truth, but I had to save face.

"I think I'll go take a bath and read my book for a bit to um, you know, settle down. I'll see you in the morning." I slipped out of bed, grabbed my book and was halfway out the door before he responded.

"Bella, don't go."

"Edward. It's fine, really. Let's just forget it. Get some sleep."

_**Yes, let's all relax and try to get some sleep now. :D **_


	2. Chapter 2 Hell Coming Up on the Left

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**This chapter is a retelling of chapter one from Edward's point of view-the only time this will happen in this story. Skip it if the repetition bugs you. Read it if you want to know Edward's version of events. :) **

**Chapter Two**

**Hell Coming Up On Your Left**

EPOV

Get some sleep? Was she kidding me? She obviously was not experiencing the same thing I was five minutes ago. Neither my body nor my mind was going to let me sleep any time soon. I tried to will my painful erection away. The last thing I needed now was for Bella to walk in on me beating off to the thought of what almost happened with her like the sick fuck I am.

God! This day had started off great, turned to crap, took a sudden detour into heaven and then dropped off into hell with a sickening thud.

I was supposed to have an interview in Charlotte, North Carolina this afternoon at one of the most prestigious architecture firms in the South. I was a little ambivalent about leaving my father's firm, but I felt like I had to get out from under his name and prove myself before I came back to eventually run the company. My dad understood that I needed to make my own mark in our profession, but he hoped it wouldn't take me long.

Anyway, I got a call from the firm's receptionist just as I was leaving the airport in Charlotte to hail a cab. Half their staff, including the senior partner who was supposed to interview me, was sick with food poisoning from an unfortunate luncheon the day before. The receptionist was extremely apologetic about the delay in notifying me and, although I was annoyed, I could imagine what kind of chaos their office must be in, under the circumstances. I tried to be gracious in my acceptance of her apology and she promised to call to reschedule within the week.

I browsed the airport shops and read a book that caught my eye while I waited around for a return flight that got me in at after eight pm. I knew Jasper had Alice and another couple down this weekend, so I went out for a late dinner with my dad and mom, not wanting to feel like a tag-along with Jasper and his guests. If their other friend had come along, it might've been less awkward. Or more awkward. Who knew?

I didn't get home until after midnight. I saw our neighbor, Jake, trying to sleep in his compact car despite his less than compact build. I knocked on the window and got the story about him locking himself out. I laughed and told him to come on in and ride the couch for the night. He was grateful and didn't even pretend to decline.

I threw Jake a blanket and pillow and told him to make himself at home, before heading down the hall to my own room. The door to my room was shut. I realized someone was probably sleeping in my room when I saw the shut door, but what could I do in this full house? If one of the couples was fighting and someone decided to sleep in my room, maybe I could convince them to reconcile.

If their other friend, Bella something, had decided to come after all—well, she was just going to have to make room. I was freaking tired and it wasn't like I would jump a random stranger just because she happened to be in my bed. I was hardly desperate for female companionship.

As soon as I cracked the door I heard her call out, sounding a bit irritated, but completely awake. It was unexpected and I embarrassed myself by practically squealing like a frightened little boy. I dropped my voice a few octaves to cover and muttered some inanities about who I was and what I was doing there. She said I could turn on a light so I did and nearly passed out cold at the sight.

And that's when my day took a turn for the heavenly.

My bunkmate could've been a Playmate, except that there was nothing staged or contrived about her sexy-as-hell pose. She was sitting up in my bed, propped on one hand, a soft blue oversized shirt of some sort unbuttoned almost to her navel and only barely covering the parts I really wanted to see. Her disheveled hair, hung down her back and waved around her sweet, full-lipped, sultry-eyed face, looking for all the world like she'd just been thoroughly and satisfyingly fucked.

Even in my lustful haze, I realized she wasn't aware that her shirt was open like that and she wasn't doing the thing with her eyes on purpose; she was squinting against the light. But still, that didn't change the image I was getting.

She offered to get out of my room and sleep on the couch, flinging back the covers and sliding her long, shapely legs over the side of the bed. Her nightshirt rode up and bunched around her hips giving me a brief glimpse of bright red panties and nearly cutting off the blood flow to my brain. I fought to gain control of my faculties before answering.

I explained how I knew who she was and that I didn't expect her to be there and about Jake sleeping on the couch. I tried to be nonchalant about the whole thing. All the while, I was fighting off crude mental images of what I'd rather be doing with Bella than babbling like a moron.

"Don't worry about it. If it's okay with you, we can both sleep in here. I'm too tired to seduce anyone anyway." Lie, lie, _damn_ lie! But I could control myself. I am not an animal.

She laughed suddenly and the sweet, lilting sound went to my already over-stimulated groin. "So if you weren't too tired, it wouldn't be safe for me to sleep in here?"

I pretended to consider, but reassured her playfully that I could control myself.

She agreed and I went off to the bathroom to have a stern talk with myself and especially my raging hard-on about what was appropriate and inappropriate behavior with an unexpected, but very welcome, house guest and platonic bedmate.

I had dug out some pajama pants that I only wore when we had guests in the house. I put them on tonight with my t-shirt. I had a feeling Bella wouldn't be good with my usual au naturel sleeping arrangements. Although, she probably wasn't going to be thrilled about waking up in a pool of sweat either. I tend to get very hot at night. I'd just have to hope for the best.

I swear, by all I hold dear, I was sound asleep and dreaming an unbelievably erotic dream about taking Bella from behind. Dream Bella threw her head back and moaned as I entered her, but something about the quality of the sound brought me gasping and panting to wakefulness and I realized I was molesting this beautiful innocent stranger! And worse, I had stripped naked to do it!

But…but she wasn't protesting. She was rubbing her firm little ass against me and _moaning_! Holy hell and all the devils in it! Maybe she'd been having the same kind of reaction to me that I was having to her. I tested my theory oh-so-subtly by pulling her nightshirt off with one hand and cupping her gorgeous, full tits, playing with the hard, puckered nipples teasingly. She pushed herself harder into my hand readily and I seriously fucking _growled_ as she broke contact with my dick and then pushed back again immediately. Yes! She wanted me, just like I wanted her!

I turned her completely onto her back so I could kiss her properly, or improperly as the case may be, and pay more full attention to her tight, beckoning little nipples. She kissed me like she meant it until I was dizzy with it. She writhed and whimpered and let out a little sigh and suddenly something about the dreamy tone of that little sigh made me wonder: Was _she_ asleep? Did she know it was me doing these things to her or was she dreaming of her ex? Jasper told me what Alice had told him about a recent and ugly break-up. Damn. I had to be sure.

I called her name, my voice actually trembling with the effort to hold off my desire for her. "Is this okay? I didn't mean to start this. I was asleep at first." I sounded like a thirteen year old who just stole second.

She tensed up immediately but said nothing as I waited, freaking out more and more. I prayed she would say she was wide awake and wanted me as much as I wanted her. But in the pale light from the windows I saw her stricken and shocked face.

"Bella? Please say something," I begged.

I tried to let her go when she still didn't respond, but she clung to me for just a moment before letting go and pushing at my chest. What was that?

"I'm sorry. I thought… you wanted me. This isn't like me. I'm sorry," she finally managed, shocking the hell out of me. What did she have to be sorry for?

I tried to tell her that of course I wanted her. In my worst move yet, I ground my hard-on against her hip, to show her how turned on I was by her. She recoiled, of course.

Sharp, gut-wrenching detour into Hell coming up on the right.

"I can tell you want sex. I just don't like being a random available outlet."

I moved as far away as I could on the bed, trying to give her some space. Her quiet, defeated-sounding response made me cringe. She should've slapped me. I hated that I made her feel that way. Bella didn't strike me as slutty or easy. I thought there was a strong attraction with some sort of connection between us; that the circumstances were a little bizarre and it was all moving way too fast, but that it was a good thing. At least it maybe had the potential to be an incredibly good thing.

But I went and tried to fuck her in her sleep and then made her feel like a slut. I ruined it, whatever it was.

"That's why I was apologizing. I know that's how it seemed," I tried to explain. I moved off the bed and got dressed and gave her the nightshirt I had ripped off of her so recently. I looked away, not wanting to witness that beautiful body disappearing from my sight forever. I had to try to at least leave room for us to be friends for Jasper's sake, if nothing else.

"Bella, I'm sorry. I get really hot at night and I took off my pajamas in my sleep. I was dreaming and I guess when my body came in contact with yours…I don't know what to say. I'm really sorry."

She shocked the hell out of me once again when she laughed suddenly and told me she could understand how it happened and that we should just forget it. "I guess I was pretty soundly asleep for most of it, too."

She said she was going to read her book in a warm bath and slid out of my bed. Just as she reached the door I asked to her to stay, but she shook her head briefly and smiled vaguely in my general direction without making eye contact.

"Edward. It's fine, really. Let's just forget it. Get some sleep."

I heard the bathwater running and my imagination took off after Bella, naked and warm and wet…and I took my rock hard dick in hand knowing there would be no sleep for me without some kind of release, however ultimately unsatisfying. Yeah, I know.


	3. Chapter 3 Back the Truck Up

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter Three**

**Back the Truck Up**

EPOV

Bella didn't come back to my room that night. Not that I really expected her to. I lay awake for more than an hour after she ran her bathwater. Every so often she would run a little more hot water, but she didn't get out. I finally fell asleep only to toss and turn fitfully. Every time I half woke, I debated going to look for her, but I didn't know what to do or say so I stayed put. It was nearly seven when I woke up for good and stumbled out of my room, determined to make things right.

In the living room, I saw a blanket and a throw pillow discarded on an oversized armchair. Obviously Bella had curled up there to sleep at some point. Even as petite as she was, that couldn't have been comfortable for several hours.

I heard voices coming from the kitchen and suddenly remembered Jake. The couch had been vacated, too. I made a beeline for the kitchen, stopping in the doorway.

Jake was standing at the island, scrambling eggs on the cook top. Bella sat watching and smiling happily. One leg was curled under her, the other dangling enticingly along the leg of the barstool. Her chin rested on one hand, while the other was splayed on the granite countertop. They were laughing and talking like old friends…or maybe new friends with the possibility of becoming more. For the first time since I'd met Jake three years before, I hated his over-sized, good-looking, steroid-taking (maybe), woman-charming guts. What the hell had possessed me to invite him in last night? He would've been fine in his car.

I cleared my throat as I stepped into the room. Bella instantly drew herself up rigidly, unconsciously running her hands over her nightshirt to make sure everything was covered. She plastered a forced smile on her face and said good morning.

Jake gave me a big, genuine grin, raising his eyebrows subtly at me. I knew Bella would never catch it, but Jake was simultaneously asking me if he was overstepping and telling me he was hot for Bella. I wanted to give him the back-off signal by touching Bella in some casual-seeming way that would clearly mark my territory. But I figured touching Bella in any way this morning would be a monumentally bad move if I wanted to try to make things right.

So I crossed behind Jake to get the orange juice from the refrigerator, knowing he would interpret the distance I put between myself and Bella as me showing there was no connection between us. Fine, let him think what he wanted and give it his best shot. So would I. Besides, she was leaving to go home to the other side of the country on Monday.

"Morning," I said lightly. "So Jake, is Leah home yet to let you in? How many times does that make that she's had to let you in because you lost your keys?"

Leah is Jake's roommate and I know there's nothing romantic between them, but it seemed like a waste not to plant that little seed in Bella's mind right away.

Jake frowned slightly at me and then shrugged, his goofy grin returning. "Aw, you know, she was upstate visiting her boyfriend. Who knows when she'll roll in. I'm not my roommate's keeper."

_Well__played_, I admitted to myself.

From the doorway a bright, melodic voice spoke. "Good morning Bella and friends!" A petite, gorgeous brunette in a deep red silk robe and matching slippers shot a grin in my direction and Jake's and then fixed on Bella with a quirked eyebrow.

Bella broke into a beautiful smile and my breath caught for a moment. I had to do something soon to get her to smile at me like that—completely open and happy.

"Morning Alice. This is Jasper's roommate, Edward Cullen," Bella gestured at me.

"Nice to meet you Alice. I've heard a lot about you from Jasper," I said, smiling.

She looked at me appraisingly, cast a quick glance at Bella who was looking at her hands in her lap. She smiled, "Nice to meet you too, Edward."

"And this is their neighbor, Jacob…" Bella pointed to Jake who had a pained look on his face briefly.

"Black," he supplied his last name. "Jake Black."

"Oh, sorry. Jake," Bella amended.

Is it petty that Bella getting Jake's name wrong and not remembering his last name made me so happy? I don't care. It made me happy. She had no trouble with my name.

"Hi Jake," Alice held up a hand in greeting and then looked back to Bella for answers. Bella seemed to hear her questions telepathically.

"Um, Jake got locked out of his house last night, so Edward invited him to sleep on the couch," she said really fast and then stopped.

"Where did Edward sleep then?" Alice asked.

"Um…in his room," Bella hedged.

I was standing facing the doorway now as one of the most gorgeous couples I've ever seen came in from the living room. Where in the name of God had Jasper found Alice and her friends? A conference on genetic perfection?

The guy gave me a big friendly grin and a nod in acknowledgement and then did the same with Jake. The blonde woman curved into his arm took her time looking us both over before offering a slight smile.

"Morning all!" the guy boomed.

Alice shrieked in surprise, her back to the entry. "Emmett! Dammit! How many times do I have to ask you not to do that!"

"Morning!" Bella laughed. "Come on in. Let's get these introductions out of the way. This is my brother, Emmett Swan, and his girlfriend, my friend, Rosalie Hale. Emmett, Rosalie, this is Jasper's roommate, Edward Cullen, and their neighbor, Jake Black."

After all the greetings and acknowledgments, Jake cracked a bunch more eggs and I started some toast and bacon and grits. By the time Jasper joined us, fresh from the shower, we had a huge breakfast on the crowded kitchen table and everyone dug in.

During a sudden lull in the conversation, Alice threw a live grenade in the middle of the group.

"So, Bella. If Jake was sleeping on the couch and Edward slept in his room, where did you sleep?"

The silence was as deep as the blush that lit up Bella's face and neck. I chanced a look at Emmett and wished I hadn't. He was staring me down suspiciously.

"Does it matter?" Rosalie spoke-up, off-handedly waving her fork in the air. "Bella could've slept on top of Edward buck naked and nothing would've happened. You know Bella."

I wouldn't have thought it was possible for Bella to get any redder, but she did. But Emmett relaxed and Alice grinned, showing they agreed with Rosalie and had just been goading Bella to get a reaction. That set me to wondering: Like I said before, Bella didn't strike me as promiscuous, but given what happened, or almost happened, between us last night, she sure didn't strike me as a prude either. Maybe it had to do with her recent break up?

"I slept on the big armchair in the living room," Bella said quietly, staring at her food.

"Edward! What the hell, son? I'm telling your mama about your lack of manners," Jasper glared at me, only half-kidding.

Before I could even decide whether to defend myself, Bella jumped in, her shyness apparently forgotten. "No! Edward was great. But I was having trouble sleeping anyway and I wanted to take a long bath. So it made more sense for him to sleep in his own bed."

I smiled my thanks at her. I didn't care what Jasper thought so much, but the fact that Bella wanted to protect me made me ridiculously happy. She smiled back a little and glanced quickly away.

"Well, this has been fun, but I think Leah should be home by now and I better get going," Jake stood up signaling an end to the impromptu breakfast party.

Jasper starting talking plans for the day with Alice and Emmett and Rosalie, but Jake motioned for Bella to follow him to the door. I was dying to follow them both, but I restrained myself. I saw Alice watch Bella leave the room with Jake and then suddenly her big bright eyes were on mine and seemed to be reading me a little too accurately.

"Alice? You want to spend the day on the beach? We can take the pontoon boat out and maybe plan a beach barbecue tonight?" Jasper looked so eager for her approval I had to grin.

"Sounds great, Jaz. But, what if we spend the day on the beach today and then go dancing tonight? Then tomorrow we could go to some of the great shops here and then have the beach barbecue tomorrow night? That way, it's not too much of a good thing," Alice suggested, smiling into his eyes. She could have suggested watching C-span at the Laundromat and Jasper would've agreed willingly. Fortunately, everyone agreed it was a good idea.

"You going to join us, Edward?" Jasper asked. "What happened to your interview anyway?"

"Long story involving food poisoning. My interview was postponed til next week. But I'd love to join y'all today if that's okay," I shrugged.

Bella came back into the kitchen just then looking a little stressed. Did she not want me to join them today? Would it make her too uncomfortable to be around me?

"What do you say Bella? Beach and boating today, dancing tonight?" Emmett asked his sister.

Whatever was bothering her passed and she smiled agreeably. "That sounds great, but, um, Jake offered to show me around this morning."

Her announcement was greeted by a silence that stretched just a little too long and two too many people—Alice and Jasper—glanced in my direction. Rosalie and Emmett were staring at Bella.

"You don't even know that guy, Bella. Where the hell did he even come from?" Emmett demanded.

Bella rolled her eyes. "From next door Emmett. Don't start."

"Jake's a good old boy, Emmett. Don't worry," Jasper assured him. "We've known him for what? Three years?" Jasper was looking to me for confirmation.

I shrugged, "About that."

Jasper smirked at me then and I knew I was found out. He knew my reluctance to talk Jake up could only mean I didn't like the idea of Bella going out with him. And that could only mean I was interested in Bella myself.

"Well, that's great, Bella. Maybe you guys can meet us at the beach later this afternoon," Alice suggested casually.

"Sure. I want to soak up as much sun as possible before we go home to the rain and clouds," Bella said. She was obviously happy to change the subject.

"Hell, it's just as wet here," Emmett objected. "It's just hanging in the air instead of falling on you. Either way you end up wet."

Of course that set off a whole discussion about weather and cultural differences. I'd never been to Washington state, much less Seattle. All I knew about it was that my idol in the architecture field, T.K. Francke, was headquartered there. And of course that it's known for coffee, the Space Needle and fish throwing.

"You don't have as strong an accent as Jasper does," Bella pointed out to me when we had gotten off on that subject.

I looked at Jasper and we shared a laugh. "Jasper is an artist, a fairly well-known _Southern_ artist. It pays for him to play up the accent and his 'Southernisms'. I, on the other hand, am an architect so I've worked a lot harder at taming the accent so people would take me seriously, no matter where I'm working."

"Just get him drunk or catch him when he's really tired. His Southern comes out all over place," Jasper assured Bella, who for some reason blushed furiously again.

"Well," she said, standing up quick. "I have to get ready to go. Anyone mind if I hit the shower in the front bathroom first?"

"You had a two hour bath last night and now you need a shower? How dirty are you?" I wanted to suck the words back in as soon as they left my mouth.

Bella was gaping at me like I slapped her granny, which in turn alerted everyone else that something was going on and soon all eyes were shifting between the two of us.

"Y'all are going to have to excuse my friend here," Jasper drawled heavily, trying to divert attention. "He's forgettin' his raisin' today. Bella, you help yourself to the shower. Alice can use the bathroom off my room and Rosalie can get in after Bella. Then the men can take a quick run through before we head out. Okay?"

Everyone agreed and the women left the room leaving Jasper and I with Bella's big brother, Emmett who was once again eyeing me suspiciously.


	4. Chapter 4 A Deity at the Beach

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter Four**

**A Deity at the Beach**

BPOV

I picked my way carefully across the sand, my flip-flops twisting all over under my feet. I stopped to pull them off and carry them the rest of the way, realizing quickly that the coarse sand was mixed with tiny little shells and pieces of shells and excruciatingly hot on my tender soles.

I was hopping on my tiptoes, trying to get my flip-flops back on when I glanced up and saw Edward striding toward me in a pair of orange and white board shorts. It ought to be illegal to walk around looking like him. He had a light, but even, all-over tan that just served to highlight his crazy sexy reddish brown hair, the sun picking out streaks of gold in it, too. The boyishly sweet crooked smile was in beautiful contrast to his very manly lean, muscled frame.

"Get a grip," I muttered to myself. "This is exactly the kind of thinking that winds up with you humiliated and horny in the middle of the night. He's just a guy, who lives 2,415 miles away from you." I looked up the distance on my laptop this morning.

"How are you walking on this sand without screaming?" I called to him over the sound of the surf rushing against the shoreline.

He waited until he was right up to me to answer. "The bottoms of my feet are like leather." He grinned. "Too many years running around this island barefoot. Hop on." He turned his back to me and crouched offering me a piggyback ride.

I didn't even hesitate. I was too desperate to get my seared feet off the sand. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he scooped me up, hooking his arms under my knees. He smelled like sun and salt water and coconut scented sunscreen and sweat. I rested my head against his without thinking and he laughed happily. I let myself laugh with him and then sighed taking in the sounds of the ocean, the disjointed voices and snatches of music that seemed to be carried in and out with the waves, an airplane droning across the impossibly bright blue sky. This place might be crowded and expensive and hot as hell itself, but it might be paradise, too.

"Hey, what'd you pick up there, son?" I heard Jasper call. "You know the tourism board asks that you take nothing but your memories."

"They also kindly request that I leave nothing but my footprint, so I couldn't just leave her there now could I?" Edward asked as he set me on my feet on a big beach towel.

Alice and Rosalie were stretched out on their stomachs on a couple of lounge chairs. There were six lounge chairs in all, four under the shade of two enormous bright blue beach umbrellas. Alice and Rose had pulled theirs into the sun so they could work on their negligible tans.

"Y'all are gonna burn," Edward told them shaking his head.

"We won't stay in the sun for long," Alice assured him. "But we cannot go back to Seattle without a little color."

"Well I hope by color you mean red," Jasper teased. "Seriously darlin', the sun is a lot more intense down here. You're gonna get a nasty burn if you're not careful."

"That's the silliest thing I ever heard Jaz. The sun here is the same sun as back home. You just get to see it more often," Alice laughed.

Whatever Jasper was going to answer was interrupted by Edward's sputtering laugh. "Jaz? He lets you call him Jaz? What about Jazzy? Please tell me he lets you call him Jazzy, Alice!"

"Shut your damn mouth, _Eddie_!" Jasper growled, but there was a playful glint in his eyes.

"Alice, you should know Jasper doesn't let anyone call him Jaz, so you must really have him whi—" Jasper leaped off his lounge chair and tackled Edward into the sand where the two of them proceeded to wrestle and punch each other while laughing and taunting and spitting out sand now and then.

Rosalie finally lifted her head and watched them for a moment before shaking her head. "Had to come all the way across the country to find two southern-fried Emmetts," she stated and laid her head back down.

"Where _is_ Emmett?" I asked. I ignored Edward and Jasper. I figured out a long time ago not to interfere in boys' fights, even if the 'boys' were technically grown men. They liked it or at least needed to do it now and then, so I felt no need to run around squealing and screeching like an idiot trying to stop them.

"He hasn't gotten out of the water since we got here," Rosalie answered without raising her head again.

If Alice and Rosalie's tans were negligible, mine was non-existent, so I settled down on one of the lounges in the deep shade and pulled out my 45 sunscreen. I peeled off my navy blue spaghetti-strapped tank and my white short shorts so that I was in only my pale blue bikini. I was afraid I looked like an albino in a wig among the tanned and toned set, but that bikini did something for my figure that always made me feel sexy. It was four years old and I wasn't giving it up until it disintegrated in the wash.

I scanned the waterline for Emmett while I reapplied the sunscreen. When I finally spotted him, I was surprised at how far out he was, past the wave break, and still barely up to his waist in the water. As I watched, he dove in and swam even further out.

"So, did you have a good time this morning?" Edward asked casually, stretching out on the lounger next to me.

"Sure. It was nice to see a little more of the island," I said. Between the shade and my sunglasses I could barely make him out. Which frankly made it easier to talk to him naturally.

"Let me guess: Jake showed you Harbour Town, Blackwater, and took you to lunch at Sunset Grille."

"Huh. What is that? He takes all the girls to those places?" I asked

"No, I didn't mean anything like that. His grandfather helped design that course and he's very proud of it. And it is a big deal. They play the Heri—"

"Oh stop! I'm sorry. Throw me off the island if you must, but I don't want to hear anymore about the Heritage Classic or the PGA Tour or anything else related to the most boring sport on the planet!" I cried. I immediately turned beet red, but I meant it. I had spent a hot, miserable hour wandering around that damn golf course listening to Jake drone on and on about all that crap and I couldn't take anymore.

Edward just laughed and held up his hands. "Sorry. No more golf talk… You really should let me teach you to play though. It's…" He dropped it with a grin when he saw the grimace on my face. At least he was good at reading other people's facial expressions and stopping when they looked like they wanted to hang themselves. Unlike Jake.

"Okay, so how did you know he'd take me to Blackwater and the Sunset Grille?" I asked.

"He and his business partner, Seth Clearwater, just opened Blackwater about eight months ago and he practically lives there. That's where we'll go tonight if everyone still wants to go dancing. And Seth's sister, Leah, is Jake's roommate and she's the general manager at Sunset Grille."

"Ah. So, he really did show me _his_ Hilton Head, didn't he?" I asked. I felt bad that I hadn't enjoyed it more, although I think I covered fairly well.

This morning when Jake asked me to come out in the hall with him when he was getting ready to leave, I was already trying to formulate a way to let him down gently if he asked me out. I had a suspicion that he was thinking about it. I didn't want to go out with Jake. Like things weren't tense enough with the awkwardness between Edward and I, Alice's teasing, and the whole _gang_ just…there. Jake was just one too many complications.

But then he did ask if he could show me around the island this morning before he had to go to work and I couldn't bring myself to say no to his sweet puppy dog face. Besides, it wasn't a _date_ date like going out to dinner or to a club. We were just going on a little tour of his hometown.

Back in the kitchen, my plans with Jake hadn't gone over so well. Everyone stared at me for a moment, and then Emmett played the big brother card and Alice tried to smooth things over. Most interesting was Edward's disappointed expression. I felt the same way.

I was horribly embarrassed about what happened in his bed the night before and I was not ready for another relationship so soon after Sam anyway, but just the same, I found myself drawn to Edward. The feeling was just as strong in the bright light of morning with no touching. I really didn't want to miss out on any time with him, especially at the beach… I was on vacation, right? What harm could a little innocent flirtation do? In fact, it was probably the best thing for me to help over my break-up. And by Monday night I would be back in Seattle.

So I decided I would do the little tour with Jake and then I would meet up with everyone else at the beach, we'd go dancing tonight and I would just relax and enjoy the company of my friends and a beautiful man who was attracted to me on some level. It didn't really matter on what level, it was all going to be just for fun anyway. Plan in place, I asked if anyone minded if I got in the shower first.

"You just had a two hour bath," Edward blurted out. "How dirty are you?"

His words had opened up a visual for me of the two of us spooned together, hot and sweaty, his hands on my breasts, between my legs, and me moaning and arching into his touch for more… He knew exactly how dirty I was. My face flamed and everyone in the room was obviously aware that something was going on. Emmett narrowed his eyes at me and then turned on Edward.

Emmett was still fuming about the way Sam ended things. And he felt guilty because he was the one who introduced us over a year ago. Emmett is a general contractor and Sam is a master carpenter who did a lot of sub-contracting for him. Probably not anymore though. I hadn't asked and I didn't care, but I doubted if Emmett could be in the same room now with Sam without ripping his head off.

I decided the shower was the safest place to be at that moment and excused myself quickly when Jasper broke the tense silence and settled the shower order.

I have no idea what if anything was said between Emmett and Edward this morning and I wasn't sure I wanted to know. If I decided I did, I would ask Alice or Rosalie later in private.

The morning with Jake was fine. It was fun. Oh, who am I kidding? It was long.

Jake tried too hard to impress and entertain me. He touched me way too much and the places around the island he chose to show me weren't things I was all that interested in. I would've liked to explore some of the many little creeks and coves and wooded areas. The golf course was hot. The club looked fantastic, but it was empty in the middle of the day, of course. The restaurant was actually quite good. It was a casual place at the top of a weathered dock house, with a gorgeous view of the water. Jake recommended the shrimp and grits and it was incredible. I found myself trying to deconstruct the ingredients so I could reproduce it at home. But once lunch was done, I really couldn't wait to get back to everyone else.

Don't get me wrong, I liked Jake in a friendly way, but I got the distinct impression that he wasn't interested in being just my friend. Most of the morning I found myself wondering what my friends were doing—what Edward was doing. Jasper told me they were going to Coligny Beach and how to find them and Jake dropped me off there before he went to work at one o'clock, getting the club set up for that night.

"Bella? Bella!" Alice broke into my thoughts.

"Sorry, what?" I turned to find her standing next to my chair in all her hot pink bikini-clad glory. I glanced over to find Jasper was sitting on the foot of Edward's lounge chair staring Alice down with such naked longing, that it made me blush to see it.

"Can we scoot the chairs over so Rose and I can fit under the shade? I'm starting to get pink and I will _not_ peel!"

I laughed and stood up to help scoot all the loungers in together under the shade. Edward was rummaging in a big cooler filled with ice and cans of soda and bottles of water, passing out drinks to everyone. When I stood back to see if all the chairs were properly shaded, I backed into Edward who had just shut and latched the cooler and stood up to turn around. He put his icy hands out to steady me and caught my bare hips, causing me to gasp and gulp hard against the sensations of cold, slick and shocking.

"What did I tell you Cullen?" Emmett barked, walking up to us at just that moment. Edward tensed and dropped his hands from my body immediately.

I froze, afraid we were about to see a real fight in a moment. What _did_ Emmett tell Edward?

"Jeez! I go for one quick refreshing swim and you've got your paws all over my sister! Southern gentlemen my ass!" Emmett was joking. His big dumb face, broke into a big dumb grin and Edward grinned right back. What _did_Emmett say to Edward this morning? And what did Edward say to Emmett?

I frowned and shook my head as I stretched back out on my lounger. Alice and Rosalie were now grinning at me like a pair of matching Cheshire cats.

"That was hardly a quick swim, Em," Rosalie pointed out. "I was about to come in after you."

"I was waiting for you to, baby. The water is nice and warm like a bath and I know how much you like—"

"Stop!" Alice and I yelled at the same time. Emmett and Rosalie just smiled at each other all dirty-like while Edward and Jasper laughed appreciatively.

The afternoon passed that way, with the sun and the water and laughter and teasing and drowsing in the roaring, pressing silences. Edward and I went swimming for quite a while, although it was really more like taking a walk in salt water because the sand bar stretched so far out into the ocean.

"I saw you guys have several surf boards hanging on the wall in your garage, didn't you bring any?" I asked. I was just making conversation, but I was also fantasizing about Edward hanging ten, his muscles expanding and contracting with athletic grace as the sun glinted off his—

"There's not much surfing to be had around here," Edward explained with a grin. "Unless a hurricane is fixing to fall. We usually go on down into Florida to surf for real. Although it's nothing compared to the west coast and down in South America. The best and scariest waves I've ever tried were in Hawaii on a family vacation when I was fifteen."

He lifted his right leg and flexed it in the sun, showing me the long jagged scar from what must've been a seriously ugly cut.

"I got caught on the edge of a reef and tore open my calf. Jasper said I practically walked on water getting the hell out of there. I was terrified the blood was going to attract swarms of sharks any second."

"Jasper was with you, too?" I asked, admiring his very he-man scar.

"'Course. We grew up together. Jasper was with me for all the big dumbass moments in my life," he laughed.

I was thinking I could stay out there all day when a dead jellyfish floated by and I decided I was done. Where there are dead jellyfish, there are bound to be live jellyfish.

When it was time to go, we packed up and trudged through the sand to the outdoor showers to rinse the top layer of sand off before piling into Jasper's silver SUV. The traffic was incredible, especially on the very scary traffic circle Jasper navigated one-handed while I prayed and made deals with God. It didn't seem possible for that many cars to be on one 12 mile long island without it sinking into the sea, but we made back to Edward and Jasper's house without incident.

I was exhausted. I hadn't really done much after the walking tour with Jake this morning, but the heavy, wet heat was sapping my strength and I wanted nothing more than a long nap before we went out later in the evening.

But where to nap?

"Oh, Bella honey! Look at you. You're gonna hurt tomorrow," Jasper said. He pressed his forefinger into my shoulder and I watched as the place he poked turned whiter than white and then popped back into a bright pretty pink. And it hurt like he had touched a bruise.

"I shouldn't have kept you out in the water so long," Edward lamented, looking me over with real distress. "The sun reflecting off the water and all. I hope you don't have sun poisoning."

"I'm fine guys, really. I lived in Phoenix for several years and I'm pale as a ghost. I've had sunburns before." I rolled my eyes at their dramatics, but I noticed Rosalie looking at me with a concerned expression, too.

"I just need a shower and a nap. I'll be fine," I assured everyone. But I did feel a little off.

"Take a cool shower, Bella. And then you can lay down in my room," Edward offered. "And don't shave or scrub. It'll burn like fire,"

"Thanks Edward, but really, I'm fine." _What__a__mother__hen_, I thought, but I was secretly touched by his concern.

"Besides, I waxed before we came down here, so I don't need to shave," I added unnecessarily. It was a good thing I was already sunburned because it helped hide the blush. Why the hell did I volunteer that little bit of personal information? To reassure Edward that I wouldn't have stubbly legs if he cared to pick up where we left off last night?

"Good for you, sweetheart," Edward chuckled as I fled the room.

Once I got into the bathroom and started peeling my clothes off, I realized how much it hurt for anything to even brush against my skin. The cool water of the shower felt wonderful, but my head was beginning to ache and I was a little unsteady on my feet when I got out.

I wrapped up in a big green bath sheet and opened the bathroom door, planning to make a dash for Edward's room where my bags still were. I could hear several people, Edward and Emmett among them talking in the living room so I darted across the hall and shut the door behind me only to find Alice waiting for me on Edward's bed. She was propped up on his pillows flipping through a magazine, but looked up to give me her big gotcha smirk.

"Edward brought you some Advil and a big glass of water," she said, pointing to the bedside table. "He's awfully considerate isn't he?"

"Yep. He sure is. I guess it's that famous southern hospitality at work," I shrugged. I kneeled down in front of my suitcase to pick something light and non-excruciating to put on over my increasingly painful skin. I decided on a pale pink tank and black yoga pants, going without any underwear or bra. I would change after my nap.

"Spill it, Bella!" Alice demanded suddenly. "What happened last night that's got you jumping like a scalded cat every time he blinks in your direction?"

"Scalded cat?" I giggled. "Did you get that from Jasper?"

"Belll-la!" she warned.

"Okay, okay, but this stays between you and I, alright? No sharing with your new boyfriend. Or Rosalie because she'll tell Emmett and all hell will break loose." I sat down on the edge of the bed.

Alice agreed eagerly and I found myself spilling everything with a sense of relief. When I finished with my stunningly inappropriate waxing comment, Alice was trying hard not to laugh.

"Oh Bella, I'm sorry, but that's just too good!" she lost the fight and laughed her ass off. I ignored her, flipping through a couple pages in her abandoned magazine until she quit it.

"I'm sorry! Really. Look, if anyone deserves a hot, sweaty Edward surprising her in the middle of the night it's you. I know the last couple months have been a bitch and you've handled it better than most anyone else would have. Maybe you're ready for a little fun? Edward seems like a great guy."

"They all seem that way at first," I said, surprising myself with my bitterness. "No, no. I know. Edward seems like a great guy. But, he can't be a fling because he's your soul mate's roommate. I'm going to see him again one way or another. And he can't be a relationship because he lives an entire country away."

"He lives the same distance from you that Jasper lives from me and you don't seem to think we're a bad idea."

"It's not the same. And I'm not ready for another relationship anyway, even if Edward wanted that. And I have no reason to think he does."

"'There are none so blind as those who will not see.'" Alice nodded like a sage, causing me to roll my eyes.

I settled down on my side of the bed with my back to Alice, trying to get comfortable without rubbing my skin against anything.

I felt Alice snuggle in on the other side, apparently planning to nap with me.

"Bella?" she said sweetly.

"What Alice?" I sighed.

"Just try to open your heart a little, okay? Don't let Sam keep you from what could be a really good thing. Whether it's temporary or not."

After a long minute of struggle in my head I sighed again and closed my eyes. "I'll try Alice."


	5. Chapter 5 ST 37

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter Five**

**S.T. 37 **

EPOV

Alice scares the living daylights out of me. She turns those big, bright eyes on me and I feel like she can read me left to right and up and down. And she's devious. I can see a dozen ways she has manipulated me and Jasper and all of her friends since I met her just this morning.

I'm not complaining, because, for whatever reasons, she seems to be on my side and anxious to help me win Bella over. But still, I plan to stay on Alice's good side for the duration.

When Bella woke up from her nap, her sunburn had sunk in thoroughly and she was miserable. She didn't feel like going dancing, but insisted she'd be fine staying back on her own. I started to protest that I'd be happy to stay back with her, but Alice was passing me on the way to the fridge as we were all congregated in the kitchen again and quietly hissed at me to shut up. And I did because I was raised by a bossy woman who was nearly always right.

"Are you wanting some time alone, Bella? Or would you like someone to stay behind with you?" Alice asked her innocently, but I saw her give Bella a slight negative shake of the head.

"Honestly, I'd really like the time to myself," Bella said.

So it was that the rest of us got dressed up and headed out for Blackwater leaving Bella alone at the house. I would rather have stayed in with Bella, but I had a feeling Alice was trying to protect me from Emmett. My volunteering to stay home alone with his sister probably would've re-awoken the suspicions she had just helped me put to rest earlier today.

This morning as soon as the women left the room to shower and get dressed, Emmett pounced.

"You want to tell me why Bella turns six shades of red every time you speak to her?" he asked.

"No," I thought. "I most certainly do not want to tell you that!" Out loud I said, "I…" Brilliant, I know.

Alice wandered back into the kitchen and sat down at the table with a huff. "Rosalie snuck into the shower while I was picking out my clothes!" she complained. "What's going on?" She looked back and forth between me and Emmett and then raised her eyebrows at Jasper who just shrugged uncomfortably.

"That's what I want to know," Emmett said, still looking at me. "Why is Bella so freaked around this guy?"

Alice laughed. "Oh Emmett, why do you think? He's gorgeous!" she said, but then quickly added, "And you know that she's got to be uncomfortable with two couples and her and Edward in this house. So why don't you make it worse by playing big bad brother and insinuating there's something going on between them! You know how sensitive she is right now!"

Emmett grunted something unintelligible, but stopped staring at me and seemed to feel bad about jumping to conclusions. Never mind that they were true. "Sorry man. I don't know what you know about Bella and her ex-boyfriend Sam…"

"Nothing. I knew she recently broken up with someone from Jasper, but I didn't even know his name til just now. Bella and I have hardly spoken to each other." Which was true if you didn't count trying to explain and apologize for feeling her up in her sleep the night before.

"Just live up to the Southern gentleman thing, all right? I can't stand to see her hurt anymore," Emmett said, getting up and leaving the room.

I had thanked Alice and resisted the urge to beg for information about Bella's ex. I felt like that should come from Bella if she wanted to tell me at some point.

Which brings us back to Blackwater. I sat in the booth Jake had reserved for us nursing a beer and wondering what Bella was doing. Jake was visibly disappointed when he didn't see Bella and I told him she stayed in with a bad sunburn. It never even occurred to him that part of that might be his fault dragging her around that damned golf course all morning. He went back behind the bar to help with the crush and was quickly distracted by a voluptuous blonde. Jake didn't have a type unless female counts as a type.

I'd had a couple of offers to dance which I oh-so-politely refused. And I ran into a girl I dated for a while in high school who was out with her girlfriends celebrating her divorce settlement. She spent five minutes telling me what a loser her ex is and the next ten outlining how much money she was going to 'take' from him. Was I old enough to have bitter, divorced ex-girlfriends? Depressing thought at 27 years old. I edged myself away from her as quick as possible without hurting her feelings.

Alice and Jasper came back to the table flushed and a little sweaty from the dance floor and Alice immediately frowned at me. "Edward you don't look so good."

"I don't? I'm fine," I protested.

"No, I can see it around the eyes. You have an awful headache don't you?" she insisted.

"No," I said, getting more and more confused.

"_Yes_, you do, son," Jasper insisted grinning at me.

"Migraine," Alice said loudly.

"Oh no! You get those, too?" Rosalie asked sympathetically. She and Emmett had approached from behind me and were sliding into the booth.

Alice looked at me all big eyed and innocent and I finally got it. I pinched the bridge of my nose and did my best to look like I was suffering.

"Oh yeah. My head is killing me," I lied pathetically. "I've gotta get out of here."

"I can run him home and be back in a sec," Jasper volunteered. He bent down and gave Alice a quick kiss.

"Okay, Jaz. I hope you feel better Edward," Alice said.

"Hey, if you need an Imitrex, Bella knows where mine are. Or if she's asleep just look in my cosmetic bag on the bathroom counter," Rosalie offered.

"Thanks. I'll see y'all in the morning." I felt guilty when Emmett slapped me on the back sympathetically as I slid out of the booth to follow Jasper. But not guilty enough to turn back.

At my house, only the porch light was on. Thinking Bella was probably asleep again, I let myself in quietly and cut the light switch on just inside the door. I set down my keys and wallet, kicked off my shoes and got a bottle of water from the fridge. I picked up the phone and got the tone indicating messages.

The first message was from Bitsy, the ex-girlfriend I ran into at Blackwater. Bitsy was a childhood mutation of her real name, Elizabeth, that stuck. She had apparently called right after I saw her because I could barely hear her over the music in the background and her screeching friends. After thirty seconds of that I erased the message and moved on.

"Edward, Jasper, it's Mom. Listen, I know y'all have company down this weekend, but I was thinking on having a little gathering at our house tomorrow afternoon. Daddy and I would like to meet Jasper's new young lady, but we promise not to embarrass him. Just us and your guests and a casual lunch. Call me in the morning and let me know what you're thinking. 'Night."

My mother should know better than to make promises she can't keep. She and my father would almost certainly embarrass Jasper in front of Alice, but only with the best intentions. I decided I'd let Jasper decide whether he wanted to extend the invitation to our guests. I hoped he would because I was kind of interested in what my parents would make of Bella.

The light was shining brightly from beneath my bedroom door as I headed down the hall and I could hear my TV as I got closer. Bella wasn't asleep, she was just making herself comfortable in my room. The idea made me ridiculously happy.

In my eagerness to see her, I knocked two quick raps and opened the door. Bella gave a little scream and jumped, clasping her hands over her heart.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry Bella, I didn't mean to scare you!" I felt terrible for that and because she was as red as a lobster and her face was a little puffy from the over exposure to the sun. She had to be absolutely miserable.

"Oh, Edward! Oh god, just give me a second here." She held her hands on her chest until her breathing and heart rate slowed to normal and then slid them back under the covers. She was wearing a soft looking pale pink tank top that was several shades lighter than her skin, and had her hair pinned up with a claw-looking clip. "I'm so sorry. I thought you guys would be out late and I couldn't figure out the damn remote in the living room. I was going to go to sleep on the couch in a little while."

"Don't go," I pleaded when she looked like she was going to get out of my bed. "Hey, déjà vu!"

She laughed and settled back down, but still looked tense and wary. "You, um, want to watch reruns of _Top__Chef_ with me?"

"Sure thing, if you'll tell me what _Top__Chef_ is," I teased, walking around my bed to get in on the other side. I stayed on top of the covers since Bella still seemed uncomfortable.

"It's a cooking competition reality show. Each week somebody gets voted off and at the end whoever wins gets $100,000 and a bunch of Gladware or something," she explained, gesturing at the TV. A bunch of people in white chef's toques were running around working manically in a huge industrial kitchen while stress-inducing music played.

"Ah ha. And what on God's green earth is Gladware?"

"What? Do you live under a rock? Gladware is like Tupperware only cheaper and more disposable."

"Sorry, I'm not much of a cook. Do you cook a lot?" I stretched out next to her, propping a few pillows behind my head to get comfortable.

Bella laughed at my question and mirrored my actions, making herself comfortable to watch the show. "Yes, you could say that. I'm a sous chef at a restaurant in downtown Seattle. Cooking is pretty much all I do."

I was floored. How did I not know this? "Wow. Now I'm embarrassed about the breakfast we served you this morning."

"Why? It was delicious. Food doesn't have to be fancy to taste good. Most of my favorite dishes are the simplest, most straight forward. I mean, the more complex dishes are more fun to make sometimes. Those are almost more like art projects, you know? When I cook for myself I keep it simple." Bella's face lit up as she talked and I could see that this was her true passion in life. I could kick myself for not asking her earlier what she did for a living.

"Maybe you'll cook for me sometime this weekend?" I asked hopefully.

"I'd love to Edward. What if I do breakfast in the morning? Maybe you'd take me to the store early to get a few things?"

"Done deal," I agreed holding out my hand. When our hands touched, besides the heat radiating from hers, I felt a now familiar sizzle running along all my nerve endings.

This wasn't normal for me. I like women as people and romantic partners. I'd had three what I would consider serious girlfriends and dated quite a lot in between. I'd been attracted in varying degrees to a number of women, but this crackling chemistry was something new. And instead of fading over time, it was growing stronger. But so was the tension between us. It was time to face it head on.

"Bella," I began, turning on my side to face her. "I really want to talk to you about last night. I'm so sorry—"

"You already said that. Please, can we let this drop?" pleading, Bella met my gaze. I have always been partial to blue eyes, but in that moment I couldn't imagine why and doubted I'd ever feel that way again. She had the most hypnotically beautiful deep brown eyes.

"Just let me say this and I won't bring it up again, okay?" I asked and got a reluctant nod. "I am _not_ sorry for my sake. I think you thought that's what I meant last night, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I am extremely attracted to you, I was from the moment I met you, and I guess my subconscious ran with that attraction. All I am sorry for is embarrassing you and making you feel bad."

After a brief pause Bella said, "It's okay. Thank you. I—I think we should just watch the show for a bit, okay?"

But I could tell she wasn't really watching the show, or seeing it anyway. Her mind was working furiously. She reached up to scratch an itch on her shoulder and immediately she winced.

"You're really hurting aren't you, love?" I asked sympathetically. She raised an eyebrow at my endearment, but didn't comment on it.

"Yeah, I've never hurt like this with a sunburn. I ache all over and I can't stand anything touching my skin, including me," she said ruefully.

"Hang on, I haven't given you the magic cure yet!" I jumped up and went down the hall to my bathroom, hearing her laugh behind me.

"Have you been holding out on me?"

I came back with a dark blue bottle bearing a pale blue and white label, a bag of cotton balls and the big bath sheet she had used earlier after her shower. "This, my dear girl, is S.T.37. My grandmother Birdie swears by it to take the sting out of sunburns."

"Your grandmother Birdie does, huh?" she teased.

"Yes ma'am, she does. And don't even think about disrespecting Grandmama Birdie." I warned her playfully. I spread the towel on the bed beside her. "Lay down here and I'll put some of this on your back while you watch your show."

"Oh you don't have to," Bella stammered. "I can do it myself." She held her hand out for the bottle and cotton balls.

"You can put this all over your back all by yourself? Well, go on then, sugar, I'd like to see that," I said. I handed her the bottle and a handful of cotton and had a seat watching her expectantly.

She squinted her eyes at me in a mock glare, her full mouth pursed. I found the S.T.37 and cotton thrust back into my hands and she stretched out on the towel on her stomach. I was about to start when she wriggled a bit, working the straps of her tank down her arms and the pulled the bottom up so that the barely-there-to-begin-with shirt only covered one small strip across her back.

I took three of the cotton balls and soaked them thoroughly with the clear, odorless liquid. I carefully straddled her hips, staying well up on my knees to avoid any potentially embarrassing incidents. As soon as I touched Bella's shoulder she tensed up, jerking her shoulder away from my hand.

"Cold!" she squealed. "Oh my god that's freaking cold!"

"That's supposed to be one of the good things about it," I laughed, going ahead with my ministrations to her shoulders and neck. "It's soothes the heat and the pain out of your sunburned skin."

"Is frostbite preferable to sunburn? They both hurt," she complained.

"Oh hush up now and relax for me, Bella," I told her.

She sighed and settled down and I continued down her shoulder blades and the middle of her upper back. Stopping every so often to get fresh cotton and pour more S.T. 37 on it, I worked down her arms and then started on her back below the raised tank top down to the waistband of her black warm-up pants.

"Okay now. If you let me I can put another big towel across your butt and pull your pants off to do your legs," I tried to sound nonchalant, but I didn't think I was selling it until she agreed quietly with a big shuddering sigh.

I went and got a second towel and laid it across her so that it covered from her waist to a couple inches below her behind. I reached under the towel to slide her yoga pants off, feeling for the waistband of her panties. She. Wasn't. Wearing. Any.

"The elastic hurt," Bella said so softly I almost didn't hear her.

This was a bad idea. My mind was wandering to dangerous places. Like her neck and the small of her back and her lovely, firm ass. And then my mind flipped her over onto her back. Damn good thing I'm not telekinetic. I decided I better start talking to distract myself.

"So Bella, tell me what it's like working in a busy restaurant." The little I knew of restaurant kitchens gave me the impression that they were very high pressure and hectic. Bella seemed the opposite of that to me. I tried to put those thoughts into words, but I think I offended her.

"I don't scream and curse like some, but I can hold my own. Besides, I know what I'm doing so I don't have much stress. Cooking and the rhythm of the kitchen during dinner service just come naturally to me. It's what I'm meant to do. How about you? Do you feel that way about architecture?"

"I did. I do...I guess I'm in a rut. I work for my father and he's a brilliant residential architect, but I've always wanted to do public buildings; you know, museums, hospitals, libraries. That's why I've been interviewing. I need more of a challenge if I'm going to grow into more than a glorified CAD operator."

"Is your dad upset about you leaving?" she asked.

"Personally? A little, I think, but he understands. Professionally he thinks I'm doing the right thing. He's still hoping I'll come back and take over the firm from him some day, but he respects that I want to branch out." It was surprisingly comforting to talk to Bella. She mostly just listened and threw in an occasional prompt that seemed to dovetail perfectly with what I was thinking.

I finished her legs, stopping just shy of the edge of the towel covering her.

"Okay, see if you can turn over here, if I hold the towel for you," I instructed her.

She managed the feat pretty easily, one hand holding the scrunched up tank over her breasts, while I held the towel over her lower half. I had managed to adequately distract myself with our conversation up to that point, but once we were face to face, she suddenly went quiet.

All the air seemed to be sucked out of the room and I couldn't buy a deep breath. My hands had a mind of their own, starting to edge up little by little under her towel. Only meaning to be thorough with the sunburn treatment, of course.

Bella's eyes had locked on mine and her breathing was getting shallower. I couldn't tell if she was urging me on or willing me to stop, so my hands stilled, but didn't move.

"This is a terrible idea," Bella finally said breathlessly.

"Why? Why is it such a terrible idea?" I started edging up again.

"Because you live 2,415 miles away from me," she sighed.

I threw the cotton balls in the trash beside the bed and ran my hands lightly over her slick upper thighs and around so that I was grazing the underside of her ass. "And yet, here you are. Give me something else." I prompted.

"Your best friend is probably going to marry my best friend and it'll make the wedding awkward," she giggled a little hysterically.

"Damned awkward," I agreed, still rolling my palms from front to back over her upper thighs. "Keep going."

"You like golf and you have a ton of country albums in your CD collection," she breathed.

I made her gasp when I slid my hands up under her towel, cupping her hips firmly in my hands. "Snoop," I chided playfully. God, teasing her was backfiring and riling me up beyond all control. "So what?"

"I hate golf more than having the flu and I can't tolerate country music." She put her hand over her eyes and laughed, arching her hips involuntarily and sliding the towel up a fraction of an inch. She pushed herself up on her elbows. "You surf and you practically sparkle in the sun. I am terminally uncoordinated and apparently allergic to the sun! You have to see this is a terrible idea."

Our faces were inches apart now and I could see her eyes darkening and her breath coming in uneven bursts.

"Then stop," I said.

_I_ wasn't going to stop. I wanted her too much, but she could stop any time she wanted and I would accept it graciously. I swear I would have. I smoothed the towel back over her and moved my hands up to her sides, just under the hiked up hem of her tank.

"I don't want to," she admitted, searching my eyes for something.

I smiled because I had to, and the next thing I knew, Bella had pulled me to her by my shirt and kissed me the way she did last night, with complete abandon. I could feel my heart thudding in my chest as I moved closer, gently laying almost on top of her, but supporting my weight mostly on my arms. The kiss went on and evolved and changed into something deeper, better, because we were both wide awake and making this choice this time.

When we had to breathe, I nuzzled her cheek, and jaw and moved down to her neck until I heard her take a sharp breath. I backed away a little to look at her and I knew instantly what was wrong. Her face was an even more livid, uncomfortable looking red where the stubble on my face had rasped against it.

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry. This is hurting you."

She shook her head no, her eyes looking desperate, but at the same time, an odd little laugh escaped her as she said, "Yes! It fucking hurts everywhere! I hate my life!"

She slapped her hand over her mouth and started really laughing and I couldn't help laughing with her, even while a part of me wanted to cry in frustration. I gingerly lifted myself off of her and laid down beside her on my back.

"How long does it take for sun poisoning to go away?" she finally asked playfully.

"Sun poisoning is just a way of saying a really nasty sunburn. It'll take a couple days at least."

"Even with the magic cure?"

I had to confess. "Honestly, that was my grandmother's magic cure for everything. She made us gargle with it when we had a sore throat, she put it on scrapes and cuts, everything. It has a painkiller in it so that's why it helps a bit with sunburns, but it doesn't really heal it any faster, I don't think."

"You faker!" she cried, swatting at my arm. "You promised me a magic cure!"

I turned on my side to face her and put my hand carefully back on her upper thigh. "I have one other thing I could try. I also heard—from a different source, of course, that orgasms are good for sunburn."

Bella took a deep breath, looking at me with fire in her eyes and a smile on her lips. "Promise?"

"I can't promise, but it's worth a try, isn't it?" I asked her as my fingers reached her warm, wet core. I gently slid one finger into her and she moaned my answer quietly.

I moved a little closer, angling my arm so I touched her as little as possible anywhere but where she wanted me to touch her most. I added another finger and worked them firm and fast in and out of her. Her sighs and moans and the way she twisted her hips into my hand, were making me high. I wanted nothing more than to rip my clothes off and thrust into her heat, but since that wasn't possible, making her writhe like this was the second best thing.

When she was sufficiently worked up, I moved my thumb to graze the hyper-sensitive bundle of nerves that was throbbing for attention. As hesitant as Bella had been about our physical interaction, I was surprised and thrilled at how responsive she was to my efforts.

Rising to my knees, I carefully straddled her leg closest to me. It gave me a better angle to continue fingering her and left my other hand free to lift her tank and cup one of her full, firm breasts. Fortunately, the places I most needed to touch her at that moment were the ones that had been covered by her bikini. I toyed with her tight, pink nipples until I couldn't take it anymore and had to taste. As soon as my mouth closed over one, Bella moaned louder than ever and her head began to thrash on the pillow.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god," she chanted and I smiled around her hard little peak, flicking at it with my tongue. "Edward, oh my god! Yes, _please,__yes_."

She stopped suddenly and tensed up all over for a long, timeless moment. I felt the tremor begin faintly and then it grew stronger and stronger and she threw her head back, her beautiful mouth rounded in surprise and ecstasy, her eyes shut tight.

"Look at me, Bella," I begged. "Let me see you come, sugar."

She immediately opened her eyes and angled her head to look into my eyes, as she continued to feel the tremors of her orgasm rolling through her. Finally she grabbed my hand to stop me.

I laid back down beside her, aligning my body as closely to hers as possible without touching her.

She shifted carefully to her side to look at me, a shy smile on her lips. "Thank you," she whispered.

"You're beautiful," I answered equally quietly, smiling ear-to-ear.

"I'm bright red," she laughed softly.

"And beautiful," I insisted. "You have no idea what you do to me, Miss Bella."

She reached down and cupped my erection, surprising the hell out of me again. "I have some idea. Can I help you out with that?"

"You don't have to do that," I assured her, sounding thoroughly unconvincing even to myself. "I know you don't feel well."

"Mmm. Well, _my_orgasm helped, let's see if yours does." She smirked at me wickedly, making me twitch hard. "Take your clothes off."

Like I said, in my experience it's always best to obey the bossy woman. I slid off the bed and out of my jeans in a flash. I whipped my shirt over my head, not missing the look of appreciation on Bella's face. She looked up into my eyes, catching her bottom lip with her teeth.

"Do you have any idea how tempting you are when you do that?" I asked her. She just ran her tongue out over that plump bottom lip and smiled at me.

I pulled my boxer briefs off and slid back onto the bed. Bella moved to me, pressing her lips to mine softly and licking my lower lip. I opened my mouth to her, careful to let her lead and not to let my beard scruff scrape her skin.

When I felt her soft hand grip my cock firmly, I groaned and broke the kiss to avoid suffocating. Her thumb grazed over my slick head, then her hand moved up and down my shaft a couple of times, before going lower and cupping my balls, massaging them gently, coaxing a deep almost-growl from me. She started to move her hand back up and realized she needed some lubrication. She gave me an evil smirk and sat up to get the S.T.37 from the bedside table. I thought she was going to put it in her hand and then on me, but she poured a little directly on my cock, making me literally squeal.

"Told you it was cold," she said wickedly.

I forgave her as soon as she closed her hand over my length, and pumped me hard and fast. Every so often she ran her thumb up over my head, making me shudder and jerk. I hate to admit how quickly I came, but between last night, today at the beach and our 'almost' just a little bit before, who could really blame me?

Bella handed me the towel that had been covering her to clean off my stomach. And curled up right next to me, kissing me softly on the shoulder.

"I wish I could hold you," I told her, brushing her hair back from her face.

"Me too," she sighed.

After a while, Bella started to feel the chill from the air conditioning. We got up and cleaned up, put on pajamas, and slid back into my bed with no arguments about who was sleeping where. What that would mean in the morning, I didn't know or care.

We fell asleep watching her cooking show, curved in and facing one another, one hand clasped between us.

_**Don't be mad! That kind of sunburn hurts too much to allow for any kind of good sex. And after all, they didn't leave empty handed, right? They'll get there in good time, I promise.**_

_**Anything you need to know desperately? Really hated? Really loved? I'd love to hear from you! **_


	6. Chapter 6 Piggly Wiggly

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter Six**

**Piggly-Wiggly**

**Bella's POV**

7:18 am. The clock on Edward's bedside table stared relentlessly back at me. At home it was even earlier: 4:18 am.

At home I would be waking up in about half an hour. Four or five mornings a week I had to meet Bart, the supply manager from my restaurant at the open market at 5:30 to go over our list and pick out produce, fish and other necessary ingredients. Then it was back to the restaurant to meet the suppliers' delivery trucks and check our order receipts versus what they were hauling off the trucks and check the quality of everything. Bart, then supervised the stocking and prepping of the purchases and I was supposed to be off after that until I came back at five o'clock to check the line cooks' prep work and make sure everything was ready for dinner service.

About half the time my morning supply duties bled into my early evening prep duties and then into the dinner service. I didn't mind so much. It was gratifying to feel how much that place relied on me to run smoothly. The head chef, Bruce Tyler, was gaining fame and notoriety and was gone more and more attending events and making morning television appearances. So it fell to me to keep things running smoothly in his absence. We were closed Monday and Tuesday, so those were my days off. I was supposed to have every other Wednesday off, too, but only when Chef Tyler was in town.

This four day vacation was the longest I had taken off since I started working at Beck's three years ago. And I was having some anxiety about being away, obviously. Chef Tyler wasn't too thrilled about giving me the time either, but he recognized that it was long overdue and had only called me three times about things that could've waited until I got back.

Yes, at home, I was busy and my career was right on track and I had great friends and a loving family. But at home, I also went to bed alone and I woke up alone. Here on the Isle of No Shame, I went to bed with a beautiful, virtual stranger holding my hand and in the morning I woke up with him still beside me, leaning into me in his sleep without actually touching me.

Lying on my side, I watched him sleep and marveled once again at that face. His head was angled down slightly on the pillow, causing his dark lashes to cast a slight shadow beneath his eyes. With his face completely relaxed, it looked a little less sharply defined. Overall he looked younger and more vulnerable than I had yet seen him.

With that thought, I pushed myself out of his bed. It wouldn't pay to complicate this already complicated situation any further. I needed to stop mooning over the man's beauty and get on with my day. I was going home tomorrow and Edward Cullen would be a fond memory. Okay, more than fond, he would be a hot, erotically fond memory. And if we met again at Alice and Jasper's wedding someday, then…well, that would be good. But I wouldn't count on anything.

I gathered some clothes and my toiletries and padded quietly down the hall to the bathroom to shower and get dressed. I figured I would wake Edward for a ride to the store once I was completely ready to go. That way I could make a shopping list while he got ready.

My hope was that Emmett had come back so drunk last night that he hadn't registered my sleeping arrangements and that he wouldn't wake up until I had breakfast on the table and would be completely distracted by my world-class cooking.

Instead, my brother was standing in the hall waiting for me when I came out of the bathroom. He pushed off the wall and stomped into the living room expecting me to follow. Which I did, with a deep sigh.

"What the hell, Bella?" he demanded in a hoarse almost-whisper. We were standing in the middle of the living room. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he glared at me disapprovingly.

"I assume you're referring to my sleeping arrangements and I just want to know how it's any of your concern," I said icily. The sibling relationship is complicated: One moment you want them dead, the next moment you want to kill them.

"It's my concern when my little sister jumps in bed with some guy she's known for less than two days! How do you think that looks?"

"I don't care how it looks! I am going to do what I want to do for once, Emmett. Just stay out of it, okay?" I hissed.

"No, I sure as hell won't stay out of it! I knew you were taking the whole thing with Sam too well. I figured you were going to break down eventually, but I didn't expect you to jump into bed with—"

"We've already covered the part where you call me a slut, brother dear! Now you listen to me: What Sam did is not remotely your fault and how I 'handle' it is not remotely your business."

"What the hell are you talking about? I know it's not my fault! What does that have to do with anything!" he was nearly yelling now, so I grabbed his arm to drag him outside before we woke everyone up. He jerked his arm away from me, but he followed me as I stormed outside, down the wide front steps and down the driveway.

"Tell me you don't feel responsible at all! I know you, I know you think it's at least partly your fault because you introduced us," I told him trying to keep my voice down as we walked.

"Okay! So fucking what, Bells? Why does that make me the enemy? I wish _I__'__d_ never met the son of a bitch, much less introduced him to you!" Emmett ran his hands over his face as he let out a deep, angry close-mouthed growl.

"Emmett…" I sighed, the fight gone out of me. "I know. You're not the enemy, but you watching me like a mother hen all the time and worrying over me, is making it harder, not easier."

He picked up a handful of rocks from the drainage planters running along the driveway and started winging them into the trees on the other side of the road.

"Emmett? Come on. Just have a little faith in me, okay? I am handling things. I'm _not_breaking down… And I didn't sleep with Edward last night." I instantly regretted sharing that information. I had decided long ago that telling my brother _anything_ about my sex life was just validating his impression that he had a right to question or offer an opinion on it.

"You expect me to believe that?" he asked, but his tone was teasing and gentler now. He gave me a sly smirk and a sideways glance. I punched him on his ridiculous bicep and he feigned like I hurt him.

"Can you please chill? Pretend I'm your friend and not your sister?" I begged.

"I can try. Do I have to be nice to Eddie?"

"Yes, you do have to be nice to _Edward_. He's a really good guy who thinks I'm beautiful, even bright red and puffy, and wants to taste my cooking. And you better roll those eyes right back where they belong! Are you trying to say I'm not beautiful or a good cook?" I demanded.

"Nah. You're all right," he admitted, grabbing me in a headlock and dragging me back down the driveway toward the house.

That's as close to an apology and an acceptance as Emmett and I usually got. A headlock was my brother's way of saying "I'm sorry" to me. Not punching him in the junk to force him to let go, was my way of accepting his apology.

Emmett's first test came as soon as we opened the front door and found Edward standing nervously in the living room with his hands shoved in the back pockets of his low-slung jeans. A big smile took over my face just seeing his anxious stance and his crazy hair. The black Hank Williams Jr. t-shirt, I could've done without, but I took it as a teasing reminder of last night and that was not a bad thing.

"Morning Edward," Emmett boomed, making Edward flinch ever-so-slightly. "You guys better hurry up if you're going to the store and getting back in time for Bella to make breakfast. I give you half an hour and then I'm hitting the Lucky Charms."

"I'm ready if Bella is," Edward answered smoothly with a genuine smile for my brother. The two of them gave each other a brusque little half nod as they passed one another and I rolled my eyes. Cave men. Did Edward just get _permission_ from my _brother_ to—to whatever the hell he was doing with me?

I grabbed my purse and led the way to Edward's dark blue sports car and got in the passenger seat before he could open the door for me. He slid into the driver's seat and within seconds we were flying down the road to the grocery store.

"Are you angry with me?" he finally asked, glancing sidelong in my direction as he drove.

"No, no. Just—my idiot brother—and you two nodding at each other—and I am a grown woman, you know!" I babbled incoherently.

"Yes, I am very well aware of that," he said with a big cheesy grin on his stupid, beautiful face. "And you say Emmet and I nodded at each other?"

"Yeah, you did! And you don't even realize you did it? He probably doesn't either. Freaking cave men…" I dropped off into a barely audible grumble as Edward continued to grin.

"So, nodding is a cave man thing?" he tried to clarify as he pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store apparently called The Piggly-Wiggly. But I was too pissed off to find that amusing at the moment.

"Edward, you might want to know, I _hate_ being patronized," I turned toward him, glaring daggers in his direction as he parked and looked over at me.

"More than golf?" he shot back with a perfectly straight face. It took me a second to process what he said and another to decide to laugh instead of smacking him.

"You're a jerk," I said, but I was laughing.

"Well hell, sugar. I was hoping I could get through four days without you figuring that out," he grinned.

We got out of the car and he grabbed my hand as we walked inside as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

He leaned down and said quietly next to my ear, "I'm sorry I nodded at your brother like a cave man."

I nodded, laughing quietly. "I'm sorry I went off on you. I might've overreacted."

He held up his thumb and forefinger a half inch apart indicating that, yes, I might have overreacted, just a tiny little bit.

We needed to hurry so I went straight for the produce section. I was going through the cantaloupes for one that smelled ripe and still felt a little firm. The only thing worse than a mushy melon is an awkward ex-boyfriend question.

"Bella? You don't have to tell me, but it's killing me not to ask: What did your ex do that has Emmett so heated?" Edward spit it out fast, like he'd been holding his tongue for a long time.

I laughed nervously. "He got married."

Edward waited, knowing there had to be more to it. And of course there was, but I wasn't going to tell him that whole story. I'd tell him the worst of it and keep the gory details for pity party favors.

"He got married three months ago," I amended. "We broke up two and a half months ago."

Edward's horrified and confused look was enough to make me laugh again, but it sounded bitter.

"If you're wondering, I didn't know he got married at the time. I assumed he wasn't even dating anyone else, since we were engaged. Emmett would've been pissed no matter what, but Sam was his friend." I reeled off the tale of my personal nightmare as I put a couple of cantaloupes in the cart and moved on to the strawberries and navel oranges as if we were discussing the weather.

I felt his hand close around my arm gently as he stopped me. I looked at him, feeling the hardness behind my eyes.

"You didn't deserve that, Bella. I'm sorry," he pulled me into a gentle hug, still remembering to be careful of my sunburned skin.

I pushed away quick when I felt the tears welling up behind my eyes. No chance was I going to cry about Sam, in Edward's arms, in the middle of a grocery store called The Piggly-Wiggly.

"We need to hurry or we'll be having my Orange French Toast for lunch instead of breakfast!" I teased. He let me go and erased the pitying look on his face to replace it with his sweet, crooked smile.

I regretted the sharing by the time we got back to Edward and Jasper's house. Edward was as friendly and sweet as ever, but there was a definite change in the tenor of our interaction. Maybe it was pity. Maybe he was wondering what must be wrong with me for Sam to have treated me that way. I couldn't blame him for that—god knows I had spent enough time wondering the same thing.

The best thing for it was that I had food to cook and a big crowd to cook it for. I put everything else out of my mind and went to work. The conversations and interactions of the others eddied and flowed around me and I absorbed them without really becoming part of them. I cut thick slices of Challah bread and set them aside while I whipped together the eggs, milk, ground cinnamon and orange extract to dip them in.

I'd like to say I was able to completely lose myself in cooking, but this was a pretty simple recipe that I had made many times before and my hands were on auto-pilot while my brain went into overdrive. Edward was moving with me around the kitchen, helping me locate the utensils and mixing bowls and pans, although he seemed to be guessing for the most part. I was hyper aware of where his body was in relation to mine and it was making me…angry.

A strange reaction on the surface, maybe, but not really. Last night when I decided to give in to temptation as much as was possible, it felt empowering. I felt like I was making a choice to take pleasure from a caring, giving man who held an undeniable physical attraction for me. And returning the pleasure, making him shudder and writhe under my hand? I felt more powerful than I can ever remember feeling in the bedroom.

But today, everything had shifted. He heard at least part of the argument with Emmett, and in a moment of insanity I told him about Sam, not just cheating on me, but _marrying_ someone else while we were still engaged. His reaction was exactly why I should never have told him. It felt like he felt sorry for me, wanted to comfort me, but no longer _wanted_ me. He kept his hands to himself completely after I pushed out of his sympathy hug. He hadn't taken my hand again the way he did when we walked into the store. As we moved around the kitchen, it was like he went out of his way not to touch me or even brush against me.

The fact that I cared so much, pissed me off to no end, because what the hell did it matter? It's not like we were starting a relationship. We were fooling around a little because it was easy and convenient. Tomorrow I would be back in Seattle, and Edward would be here. That's how it was going to be whether he thought I was pathetic or perfect. So, I needed to stop caring what he thought one way or the other.

He touched my shoulder and I screamed, nearly jerking the cast iron skillet off the burner and onto the floor. Fortunately, I saved it at the last minute, by shoving it forward again with my wrist, but then, of course, I screamed because I burnt the crap out of my wrist.

"Bella! I'm sorry! Oh honey, I'll get some butter for that," Edward looked horrified and I couldn't help a shaky laugh. I've burnt and cut myself enough times that I don't panic, but that shit still hurts.

"No butter, thanks," I told him, turning the burner off and carefully pushing the pan back with the oven mitt I wore on my left hand. I flung the mitt off and went to the sink to run cold water over the burn on my right wrist. "Do you maybe have some Neosporin and a little gauze and medical tape?"

"I'll fetch it," Jasper volunteered, quickly leaving the room.

"Bella, you want me to keep the French Toast going?" Alice asked and I nodded gratefully. All there was left to do was brown it up good on both sides and if it sat too long it would get soggy.

"My grandmother Birdie swore by butter for burns," Edward told me with a small smile, hovering at my side as I let the cool water soothe the burn.

"A lot of people do, but, no offense to Grandmama Birdie, it keeps the skin from breathing so it can't heal as quickly and it can cause infections to set in," I informed him. "Trust me, I've had to learn my kitchen first aid backward and forward."

I started pointing out various small scars and tokens of my minor kitchen disasters, just to prove that I could survive this, too. I wanted to erase the vertical line of worry etched between his eyebrows.

Jasper came back with the supplies and helped fix me up, though I could tell from Edward's fidgety hands that he was dying to snatch the job away and do it himself.

"Edward, this wasn't your fault. I was daydreaming and not paying attention and I, of all people, know better than that when working over a hot stove," I reassured him.

He nodded and smiled at me, but the line didn't go away and neither did he. I was beginning to think, either he had a diagnosable guilt complex, or he genuinely cared about me in spite of hearing the story of Sam.

Alice was plating the Orange French Toast to serve with the thin sliced bacon and fresh fruit I had already prepared. I quickly turned the heat on under a waiting saucepan of maple syrup. As soon as it was heated through, I whisked in 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder, a quarter cup of butter and a tiny pinch of salt. By the time everyone was seated, I had the Chocolate Maple Syrup in a soup bowl with a small ladle (I didn't bother asking if they had a gravy boat) and joined them at the table.

For the next ten minutes, I heard the sounds chefs love best: Silence punctuated by clanking forks and moans of appreciation.

"Darlin', I think we may need to keep you," Jasper finally drawled, wiping his mouth on his napkin.

"Oh no!" Alice objected. "If you want to keep eating Bella's gourmet cooking, you're going to have to come and get it. We're not letting her leave Seattle!"

Jasper looked at Alice meaningfully and she blushed for the first time I can remember. "I'll take that under consideration, Miss Alice. But if I come to Seattle, Bella's food will be third or fourth on my list of reasons."

There was a breathless pause in conversation following that deeply personal and emotionally charged announcement. I met Edward's eyes and realized he was just as moved by our friends' love for each other as I was. He gave me a little nod as if he was acknowledging that they were going to end up together no matter what.

Jasper cleared his throat and took a look around the table with a bashful, but happy grin. "Well, ladies and gents, I have an invitation to extend to you. Esme, Edward's mom, called last night and she and his dad would like for us all to come to their house for lunch this afternoon. Alice wants to go, but what do the rest of y'all think?"

Edward's parents? Hmmm. It would be very interesting to see what combination of genetic material produced Edward.

"Sounds fun to me," I shrugged, earning a big, crooked smile from Edward. My heart and my nether regions jumped at that same time and I silently admonished myself to pull it together once again.

Emmett immediately said sure. Rosalie gave a bit more tempered affirmative, but she smiled genuinely at Jasper, which was the equivalent of an official seal of approval from her. She tended to reserve judgment, but once she made up her mind about people, she was rarely wrong. Actually, Rosalie was one of the few people who had never entirely embraced Sam. She didn't hate him, but she just never _took__him__in_ the way she did with the rest of us…eventually.

Edward volunteered himself and Jasper and Emmett to do the dishes and clean up the kitchen, which I found particularly meaningful because I am not a neat and organized cook. Emmett grumbled, but it was mostly for show.

Alice and Rosalie followed me into Edward's room, plopping themselves down on his unmade bed, as I went through my luggage.

What do you wear to meet the parents of the man you had just spent two naked sweaty nights with, without actually having sex? Capris and a fitted t-shirt seemed wholesome and non-whorish, but then again a sundress might be nice, too. Because it would be easier on my sunburn, not because it would be easier access if Edward wanted to fool around again.

Gah! Where the hell was my head? I needed to get off this godforsaken, hormone-spiking, sex god-producing island.

"How long do you suppose she's going to pretend we're not sitting here?" Rosalie asked Alice conversationally.

"She's hoping we'll give up and go away," Alice responded cheerfully.

"I'm not going anywhere until I find out if Edward's long-fingered hands are _proportional_," Rosalie said.

"_Rose_!" I turned on them, swatting her with the clothes in my hands.

"Come on, Bella. We made sure you got time alone with him, the least you can do is suck and tell," Alice giggled.

"_Alice_! I did not suck anything last night! We watched _Top__Chef_ and he put his grandmother's miracle medicine on my sunburn." I hedged, even though I knew better.

"And that's all? Nothing else happened? Cause I'm gonna be pissed if we went to all that trouble last night and you didn't get a little something," Rosalie said.

"It's kind of grossing me out that you guys plotted and planned for me to get laid. Sorry you wasted all that perverted effort," I retorted disdainfully. I took my clothes and my toiletry bag and headed for the door. I stopped at the door, turned to my best friends with a big grin and 'fessed up. "But, yes Rose, his hands _are_ proportional and very, _very_ talented!"

The girls squealed as I shot out of the room, shutting the door behind me to find Edward in the hall, looking surprised. Was he surprised because I came flying out of his room suddenly or because he heard what I said? I wasn't exactly speaking quietly.

"Hey! Where's the fire, love?" he teased. Oh thank god, he hadn't heard me.

"Just want to make sure I get the shower first," I said breathlessly, heading down the hall.

"Oh, Bella?" he said as if he had just remembered something important. I turned and looked at him questioningly.

He grinned from ear to ear and waggled his long fingers at me suggestively.

_**Hehehehe. He so heard her! **_


	7. Chapter 7 SweetT&theSouthern Inquisition

_**Good Gawd, y'all! You're turning my head with all these lovely reviews! For those few of you having trouble hearing Edward with a Southern accent? Do what you have to do to join the rest of us—it's a lovely place to be. One reviewer said she pictures Rob Pattinson but hears Josh Lucas from Sweet Home Alabama. Whatever works for you, works for me! =D**_

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter Seven**

**Sweet Tea and the Southern Inquisition**

**Edward's POV**

Maybe it's a cliché, but there is nothing more exciting than having a beautiful woman in the bedroom where you spent your teenage years. Except maybe _having_ a beautiful woman in the bedroom where you spent your teenage years. I wouldn't know for sure, but not for lack of trying.

I brought Bella upstairs to give her a break from the great inquisition, to show her some parts of my past, and, I'm not gonna lie, to get a chance to kiss her again. All afternoon, watching her talk food with my mother, debating the merits of golf with my father, blending seamlessly with my sister and her family, all I could think was how great she was and how much I wished they'd all go away.

As soon as I got her in my room I shut and locked the door and put my hand on her arm to pull her to me. She came willingly and wrapped her arms around my neck, smiling up at me shyly.

"Hi."

"Hey," I answered, giving her a quick peck on the lips. "Can I kiss you?"

"Apparently," she quipped, making me smirk.

"Ha. I meant this kind of kiss," I said before crushing my lips to hers. She instantly opened her mouth to me and deepened the connection, tightening her arms around me and pressing the length of her body to mine.

When we finally had to either break apart or take the next step, I sighed and pressed my forehead to hers.

"Sunburn feeling a little better?" I asked.

"Screw the sunburn," she answered with a big grin, making me laugh.

"Thanks for putting up with my family," I told her.

"They're great, Edward. I've had fun," she assured me.

"They _are_ great. They're just a little too much of a good thing sometimes. And they've been monopolizing you. And I wanted to talk to you about something very serious." I was talking very low so she had to stay close to hear me.

"O-kay. What is it?" she almost whispered, her brow furrowed slightly in concern.

I hemmed and hawed a little, looking down at the floor, up at the ceiling, before finally looking her in the eye. "Um, well…do you like…my hands?" I held up my hand and waggled my fingers at her again, the same way I did this morning when I overheard her.

She shrieked and smacked my arm hard. "You jerk!" she laughed.

She kept smacking me while I tried to fend her off. Finally I grabbed her wrists and pulled her back into me.

"Sorry. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Listen, it made me _unbelievably_ happy to hear that I made you feel that good, sugar. I haven't stopped thinking about it since." I gave her my best, most dazzling smile. She rolled her eyes and shook her head at me, but she didn't pull away.

"Maybe I just said that to shut Rose and Alice up," she said, quirking an eyebrow at me.

"Did you?" I asked, almost brushing her lips again.

She shook her head no and took the initiative to kiss me this time.

"Can we just forget that I'm leaving tomorrow for now?" she asked in a rush, when we broke apart. "I like you and I'm having such a good time. Let's just enjoy it."

"Sounds like the mimosas talking, but I like that plan," I agreed. "I'd like nothing more than to forget you're leaving tomorrow."

A sudden loud pounding on the door made us both jump, but when I wrenched it open, there was no one there. I turned around to say something to Bella and felt a stream of ice cold water hit the back of my neck.

Well, it wasn't like I hadn't asked for it just this morning or been expecting it.

This morning, we had headed out for the family home around eleven-thirty.

I was waiting for it from the time we drove through the Sea Pines Community gates. I glanced at Jasper in the rearview and got a big grin letting me know he was waiting for it, too.

We wove through the increasingly huge and impressive homes until we came to the hugest and most impressive, or obnoxious, depending on how you saw it, estate of them all sitting on an enormous beach front lot. Eight bedrooms, seven and a half baths of modernistic excess.

All was quiet for a few long beats until Emmett finally said, "_Holy__shit_!"

"_And_ we're home," Jasper deadpanned and I laughed.

"That's pretty much the standard reaction," I said as we piled out of Jasper's Jeep.

"Hey, Kate and Garrett and the kids are here," Jasper said, gesturing at the big red SUV in the driveway. He turned to take Alice's hand. "Looks like you're facing the full tribunal, darlin'. Are you sure I'm worth it?"

Alice looked up at him in all seriousness. "Not a doubt in my mind, Jaz. Bring 'em on."

From everything Jasper told me since he first met Alice, I knew he was serious about her on a whole new level of serious for him. He wasn't one to let his guard completely down. There had always seemed to be a part of him he held in reserve and I understood why. But with Alice, I was watching him throw himself in with absolute abandon and trust. And I found myself praying that she was as worthy of that trust as she seemed to be.

Before we could get any farther than the front entryway, we were accosted by a 9-year-old with a shock of dark blond hair hanging in his eyes and a Nintendo DS permanently attached to his left hand.

"Uncle Edward! Uncle Jasper! I finally got the Platinum version! It has this new gym leader and the Dialga is red and goes like whoooaaaa!" he gestured grandly, if vaguely. "The blue one didn't do that. I just got it this morning and I already beat three gym leaders and captured a Starlie and a Chimchar!"

"Way to go, buddy!" Jasper held out a fist for E.J. to bump. "Did your parents get that for you for the trip down?"

"No. They said they're not buying me any more Pokemon games, so I had to use my allowance," E.J. scowled at the unfairness of it all.

"Tragic, but it looks like you managed to save up enough," I said, messing up his hair a little more. "I want you to meet some friends. This is Bella and her brother Emmett and that's Rosalie and Alice. This is our nephew E.J. everybody."

"Hey," E.J. said briefly with an embarrassed half-smile, before turning his attention back to his game.

"Guess what!" I said excitedly, pulling his attention back to me at least momentarily. "Alice is Uncle Jasper's _girlfriend_."

E.J. surveyed Alice carefully as if he didn't believe it.

"It's the truth," I nodded. "They're _in__love_. Kissing all the time. I just thought you should know because I know how much you love all that mushy stuff."

The poor kid's face went from confused to disgusted to furious. "I do NOT! Ugh! That's disgusting!" He stalked off, pretending to gag.

"That was mean," Bella laughed giving me a push.

"He expects it of me," I shrugged. "He'll get even at some point, don't worry."

"That's true," Jasper agreed. He turned to Bella. "Just be sure you're not in the line of fire when he does."

It was good advice. E.J.'s revenge tactics tended to be light on verbiage and heavy on wet slimy things oozing or crawling down my shirt collar.

I led the way into the sunken living room with the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, where my mom and dad, my sister Kate and her husband Garrett sat waiting for us expectantly. E.J. was laying across the back of one of the sofas deeply immersed in his game, and Kate held 8-month-old Molly Kate on her lap.

Jasper and I made the rounds of introductions. Jasper gave special emphasis to Alice's introduction and I tried very hard _not_ to give any emphasis to my introduction of Bella, for fear of embarrassing her or freaking her out. I thought I had done very well. My mom didn't pounce on her and my dad didn't wink at me, but when I looked at Kate, she and Garrett were looking at each other knowingly and then she smirked at me. Sister smirking is never a good sign.

Kate is eight years older than me, so we weren't quite as close growing up as Emmett and Bella, who are a little less than a year apart. But even so, the little I overheard of Emmett and Bella's fight this morning, sounded familiar. Kate always tried to boss me around, too. Still does.

"Oh, I'm so glad you all made it over this afternoon," Mom said standing to greet everyone. "Now I know you're on vacation so we won't take up your whole day."

"You mean there's somewhere better to be on this island?" Emmett asked. "This is an amazing home you have here. Incredible."

"Well, thank you! Aren't you a doll! My sweet husband here designed it to my specifications a long time ago. My kids like to act ugly and call it Esme's Monstrosity," she sniffed in my direction particularly.

"Emmett's a general contractor," I shared, mainly in hopes of getting my mother's attention off of me. "So he's speaking professionally, not just kissing your—"

"Edward Anthony Cullen!" my mother warned.

"Foot. What did you think I was going to say, mother dear?" I grinned at her, pretending to be shocked.

My dad soon had Emmett, and Rose by extension, since she rarely seemed to leave Emmett's side, engaged in conversation over building near water. I was surprised to see Rose contributing and not just listening passively. I hadn't heard Rose say much the whole weekend, although when she did it was pretty sharp.

Mom and Kate were grilling Alice like a steak, but she seemed to be holding her own while she held Jasper's hand. Garrett was trying to help E.J. get past a particularly sticky spot in his game.

"So, Rosalie can really talk when she wants to," I observed to Bella.

"Of course she can," Bella nodded with a little shrug. "She's just a little shy at first with most people."

"She's shy?" I scoffed. Women who look like Rosalie are not usually shy in my experience. I had taken her as more stand-offish.

"Yes, Edward, shy. Rose has been stared at by men and stared down by women since she was a teenager. That's enough to make anyone self-conscious and a little defensive, don't you think?"

"Hmm. I never thought about it that way." I meant it, but I still wasn't sure I agreed. I'd have to think that one over. "So, can I show you around?"

I took her around most of the downstairs and then to my favorite part, out the French doors onto the wide stone patio, leading to the deep blue tiled pool, which looked out over a private beach and the Atlantic ocean. We started walking without any plan and ended up circling the pool and heading for the sand.

"Edward? Can I ask you something?" she finally asked.

"Sure," I shrugged. I was prepared for something about me or her or us, so I was surprised at what actually came out of her mouth.

"Why is your family so interested in Alice? I mean, I know you and Jasper are close, like family, but…" she trailed off.

"Oh, yeah. Well, I assumed Alice would've told you by now. Jasper _is_ family. He came to live with us when he was twelve years old. He's just as much a son to my parents as I am."

"He's adopted?"

"No. His parents are alive and…well. They're just not around. Listen, this is touchy territory for Jasper, so anything we talk about has to stay between us, okay?"

Bella met my eyes and nodded sincerely.

"Jasper's parents were from some of the real old money families in Charleston. Especially his dad. But the family fortunes took a turn, and over the last few generations, they must've been dipping pretty heavily into the principal, because Jasper's mom and dad went belly-up financially. They even lost their ancestral home on the Battery in Charleston when Jasper was around nine years old. Those homes pass from generation to generation. If one goes up for sale, the family has completely died out or is pretty much ruined," I tried to explain.

Bella looked as though she was trying hard to follow my point. I couldn't tell how well she was succeeding, but I decided to keep going unless she asked me a question.

"To make a long story a little shorter, they moved here with what money they were able to hang on to and continued to live way beyond their means and, it turns out, stopped paying taxes altogether. When they were about to be indicted for tax evasion, they took everything they could get their hands on and disappeared," I shrugged, trying not to let the familiar wave of anger and disgust I always felt when the subject of Jasper's parents came up, show too harshly on my face.

"And they asked your parents to keep Jasper?" Bella sounded horrified.

I snorted derisively. "Not exactly. They dropped Jasper off at the Sea Pines gates on their way to the airport and left it up to him to ask my parents if he could stay. He already spent most of his time at our house anyway. He sat down there until dark, too embarrassed to come up the house. My dad happened to see him when he came home late from work."

"Oh Edward! That's so sick and selfish! Poor Jasper!" Bella's face was flushed with anger and her fists were clenched at her sides.

"I know. Anyway, my dad and mom took Jasper in my dad's office to talk and two hours later, I had a new brother. They couldn't adopt him, but they got appointed his legal guardians and, in every way that matters, Jasper _is_ my brother. Kate feels the same way. E.J.'s full name is Edward Jasper McCaffrey."

Bella was quiet as we walked along the sand, but I could see she was still trying to work through what kind of people could just leave their twelve year old son.

"We shouldn't hang out in the sun too long," I finally told her, turning back toward the house. "Bella, I really need you to keep all that to yourself unless Alice brings it up to you. I don't actually know how much Jasper has told Alice. He really doesn't like to talk about it. That's why he tends to introduce me as his best friend or roommate. I just follow his lead."

"I just can't understand how they could just leave him like that."

"I don't either, so don't expect me to defend them. They're shallow, selfish people who grew up feeling entitled to money and an easy way through life," I told her. Then I laughed, "Jasper is the complete opposite and he probably kept me from becoming that way. He got a job as soon as he was legally able. He went to work for a construction company as a kind of gopher.

"After a few weeks, I started to feel like a slacker so Jasper got me a job with them, too. It was hilarious. They pushed us pretty hard to see if we were serious about working, especially me. I mean, everybody knew who we were and where we lived. But in the long run, I think we proved ourselves."

"You know, I would never have guessed you came from this kind of money," Bella said. "I hope that doesn't offend you. I mean it as a compliment."

I nodded and smiled. I took it as a compliment. We were almost back to the house. I took a chance and reached for her hand.

"Is this okay?" I asked when she jerked her head up in surprise. She just smiled and clasped my hand.

I debated on whether to tell her what had popped into my head as a result of her compliment. She was so easy to talk to, I decided she'd love the story.

"When we were like fourteen or fifteen, Jasper was researching a paper for his U.S. history class and he came across this 'Gentleman's Code' written by a historian in the 19th century. So Jasper decided we needed our own updated code to live by," I said, laughing a little at the memory. "One of the rules was that we make our own way and not live off my parents. I believe there was another one about always keeping our 'rides' pristine."

Bella laughed her beautiful silvery laugh. "What else was in this code?"

"Oh, lots of stuff. Maybe if you're sweet to me, I'll tell you some more, sugar." I pulled her a little closer, but we were back on the patio and Bella was self-conscious what with all the windows. She pulled her hand away, patting me on the shoulder in a friendly way before creating a little more distance between us.

"You be sweet, _honey_," she mocked me. "And I'll see what I can do."

Back inside, I took Bella to the kitchen where my mom and Alice were deep in conversation. When we came in, they stopped, but they both seemed happy, if a little teary.

I had saved the kitchen for last because I suspected Bella wouldn't want to leave it. My mom loves to cook and had just recently remodeled the kitchen in to a chef's wet dream.

"Oh. My!" Bella exclaimed as we walked into the kitchen. "I could live in here happily with just a sleeping bag in the breakfast nook over there!"

"I think my mom did that for a while after they finally got this finished. She loves to cook and I'm sure she'd love your help in here with lunch," I offered.

"Edward, I'm not going to put the girl to work," Mom protested. She offered Bella a mimosa just like the ones she and Alice were sipping and Bella happily accepted.

"Fine," I shrugged. "But she's a professional sous chef and she made us the best breakfast in the history of breakfasts this morning."

My mom's eyes lit up and she turned to Bella. "Oh? Come closer, said the spider to the fly!"

By the time I left the kitchen, Mom was chatting and laughing with Alice and Bella like old friends. I found everyone else in the living room watching the Braves battle it out with the New York Mets.

"Hey, where's Bella?" Jasper asked me. He had a weird look on his face that I couldn't interpret.

"In the kitchen with Mom and Alice," I said as casually as possible with everyone in the room glancing at me while pretending not to.

"So, Edward, I understand Miss Bella in there has a thing for your neighbor," Garrett threw out casually.

It was completely irrational and childish, but I felt my jaw clench and my blood pressure spike. Some twisted, possessive little voice buried deep in my psyche was growling, "_Mine_."

"You were right, Jasper!" Kate crowed before I could think of anything to say. "Garrett's just messing with you, little brother. Don't burst a blood vessel. So you like Bella, huh?"

"How old are you?" I shot back at my sister dismissively.

I got up and left the room to get a beer from the cooler in the pantry. I could hear Bella's clear, sweet voice, but not what she was saying. And then Alice's laugh and my mother's slightly deeper voice answering. The crowd in the living room was loudly lamenting a botched play.

What the hell was I doing? Why was giving Bella the full court press, acting like it didn't matter that she lived thousands of miles from me, and there was no future in this? I was a little too old for a fling. And she was coming off what sounded like one of the most spectacularly bad break-ups imaginable. Was I making it worse? Taking advantage?

The bottom line was that I was beyond attracted to her and I wasn't going to waste the little time we had together hesitating. If she told me to back off, I would. But otherwise…

Resolved that I knew what I was doing and did not owe anyone but Bella any explanations, I went back to the living room and enjoyed the game. When I finished my beer, Kate got up to get a refill and brought me one too. She smiled and clinked our bottles together. She was nosy and annoying, but I loved her.

"Where's Molly Kate?" I asked her.

"Napping in my old room."

"She's turning into a little person," I grinned. "It's amazing how they do that."

"She says daddy," Kate told me proudly. "Of course, she calls everyone daddy, including me, but still."

"Well, maybe you should shave that upper lip a little more often," I said very seriously. My darling, petite sister frogged the hell out my bicep. She was always a master at that, hitting just the right spot on the muscle with her pointy little knuckles to bruise the crap out of me.

"Dinner's on y'all," Mom called from the kitchen doorway. "Let's eat out on the lanai."

Jasper saw Emmett and Rosalie's confused looks.

"She means lunch. We call it dinner sometimes and dinner is supper," he explained. They nodded but still looked a little confused.

Once we were all seated around the big teak table overlooking the pool and the plates were served, the nightmare began. It started innocently enough.

"How do you like being a chef?" my dad asked Bella.

"I'm just a sous chef, kind of an assistant to the head chef," Bella clarified. "But I love it. I can't imagine doing anything else. The hours are a little crazy sometimes, though."

"A little?" Emmett interrupted. "She works constantly. This is the first vacation she's taken in four years at Beck's."

Bella gave a little shrug. She'd obviously heard this from Emmett before.

"And don't let her fool you, she practically runs that place. The head chef is Bruce Tyler and he's hardly ever there anymore," Rosalie shared, looking fiercely proud of her friend.

"Oh my heavens!" my mom cried, putting her napkin down. "Honey, you work for Bruce Tyler? I love him! I've seen him on the morning shows and even tried a couple of his recipes."

"He is fantastic," Bella agreed. "I've learned so much from him. Hey, I'll get him to sign a copy of his new cookbook for you and send it to you."

"I would love that!" my mom beamed at her and then at me.

The conversation moved on and turned around Alice's executive buyer's job, and Emmett's building company. Rosalie entertained everyone with the story of how she and Emmett and met the first time.

She's a commercial loan officer for one of the big banks in Seattle and was sent out to walk the building site on one of Emmett's jobs. She asked a lot of hard, pointed questions and Emmett was so overwhelmed by her appearance, he could barely string two coherent words together. Emmett happily admitted it was true.

Two weeks later her good friend, Bella, set Rosalie up on a blind date with her brother, who turned out to be Emmett and the rest was history.

"So, Bella, how do you go about meeting men with the hours you work?" my mom asked suddenly when there was a lull in conversation.

Bella reached for her iced tea and took a big gulp, her face registering surprise. "Ahh! Sweet!" was all she could say.

Kate laughed, "Yeah, there are three kinds of iced tea: Unsweet, sweet, and Southern sweet. You have Southern sweet there. Just one tablespoon of sugar away from being syrup."

Bella laughed and wiped her mouth. She glanced at my mom and found her still waiting for an answer to her question. "Oh. I, well, I don't really…meet men. I…just ended a long-term relationship a few months ago and I'm not looking."

"He cheated on you," my mom guessed.

"Esme!" my dad admonished. "Leave the girl alone."

"Oh hush. She doesn't mind. Do you?" she asked Bella who shook her head no like she meant yes, very much.

"Honey, I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Kate before she met Garrett. The world is full of men who think they can stay young by refusing to grow up. Look for the ones who are proud to be grown men."

There was a weird silence and every one of the women at the table turned to look at their man, I was happy to note that Bella looked at me. I found myself sitting up a little straighter and then realized all the other men were doing the same thing. The moment passed and laughter broke out as everyone realized our ridiculous reactions to Mom's words.

"It's a shame you don't live down here, Bella," my mom went relentlessly on. "You and Edward would be great together. We're going to lure Alice down here, so you might as well come along."

Bella sat dumbfounded and blushing, turning her eyes on me, begging for help. I grinned at her, offering a little shrug. What could I say? I thought Mom had a point.

As soon as lunch wound up, though, I excused Bella and myself to finish her tour of the house. I took her straight upstairs to my room and that's where we were when E.J. knocked on the door and then sprayed the back of my neck with ice water from his Super Soaker water gun. I chased him a little ways and threatened to tell his Grammy Esme that he was spraying water in the house, but I had to let it go. After all, I did ask for it.

The afternoon was great. We ended up staying, swimming in the pool, hanging around the beach. We had leftovers for supper and finally said good-bye to my family as it was getting dark.

In Jasper's car on the way home we were debating what to do for the evening, when Bella cleared her throat nervously. "Do you think, maybe, I mean it's our last night here. Maybe Alice and Jasper would like a little time on their own. And you and Rose, too, for that matter," she said directly to Emmett.

He rolled his eyes at her, but gave her a smile, too. "And that leaves you and Edward on your own, too, doesn't it?"

"Does it?" she feigned innocence. "I suppose it does. Let me rephrase: Go away."

"I'm with Bella. I won't see Jaz again for almost a month. I want some quality one-on-one," Alice spoke up. Jasper pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed it, keeping his eyes on the road.

Jasper and Alice dropped the rest of us off at the house and took off in his SUV. Emmett and Rosalie went in the house.

"Where do you want to go?" I asked Bella as we stood in the driveway like a couple of teenagers with some unexpected freedom.

She laughed nervously. "I don't know. You're the local."

"Right. Um, okay, yeah. Give me just a second," I wracked my brain. I wanted to take her back to my bed, but with Emmett in the house, awake and sober, that seemed unwise. And maybe that's not what Bella was thinking. "Okay, I got it!"

I went to the garage and got a couple of big beach towels from the rack by the back door where we hung up anything we brought back from the beach full of sand.

I ushered Bella into my car. Not only did I have Bella to myself; it was her idea. I decided to take her to a small cove on the south end of the island. We didn't say much as we walked among the reeds to the open sand and found a nice spot to spread out the towels and sit and watch the water. There was no one around but the two of us.

"I hate that you're leaving tomorrow," I blurted out.

"We're not talking about that," Bella reminded me.

"Sorry. Bella? I'm sorry if I didn't handle it very well this morning when you told me about Sam," I started again, but she was already shaking her head no.

"We're definitely not talking about that," she sighed. "But if we were I'd say you handled it fine. I just felt weird about telling you. Besides, what do you say to something like that?"

"If we were talking about it I would say I'm glad your ex is such an unbelievable idiot. It would've killed me to meet you if you were taken."

"Well, lucky you. I'm free as a freaking bird," she giggled nervously. She leaned into me. I was expecting her to kiss me, but at the last moment her tongue swiped across my lips suggestively and then she pulled back.

I went after her lips, pulling her onto my lap as I kissed her hard. It occurred to me that I was moving too fast, when she pushed me down in the sand and straddled me. My hands bunched against her hips in the fabric of her simple cotton sundress. They wanted to roam, but I was still holding back. All I could do was let Bella lead and try to keep myself in check.

Her hands ran up over my shoulders, up my neck and into my hair. She pulled my head to a better angle for her and moaned into my mouth. I pressed my hands harder against her hips, shifting her slightly and opening my legs so her weight was pressed fully on my erection. The friction felt so good, I wanted to yell it at the top of my lungs. I put one arm underneath my head to prop myself up better for reaching her ear and her neck and her collarbone.

"Edward? You have no reason to believe me, but I have to say this," Bella whispered urgently in my ear.

"What is it, sugar? I'll believe anything you tell me," I promised her. It was true. She could tell me oxygen was poisonous and I'd stop breathing immediately.

"I don't do things like this. Ever. But you—you make me want to," she confessed. "I just need you to know it's you, Edward. I know it's temporary and maybe I'm trying to escape a little, but I wouldn't be doing this with anyone but you."

I rolled her onto her back and positioned myself between her legs. "_You__'__re_ trying to sweet talk _me_? Have I given you the impression that I'm hard to get?"

"Are you saying you're easy?" she teased, wriggling beneath me and making me groan.

"Only for you, sugar. But Bella, I'll only be as easy as you want me to. I mean, this doesn't need to go further than you're comfortable with."

"You know, it's not good for my ego or my courage to have you always pulling back and looking for a way out," she teased, but it was apparent in her face that she meant it.

"Sweetheart, I'll make you a deal. I am all in from here on out, if you promise to tell me if you want to stop or slow down." I sucked gently at her bottom lip for a moment until she shivered.

"Promise," she sighed. She wound her hands back into my hair and wrapped one leg over one of my legs and pressing me harder against her. "But don't expect to hear from me anytime soon."

With some careful maneuvering to avoid getting sand where sand should not be, we rolled again, Bella unbuttoned my shirt and pushed it open to run her hands all over my chest. Her fingers and then her warm mouth teased my nipples, making my stomach muscles contract almost painfully.

I pulled the elastic neckline of her dress down to reveal her satiny beige strapless bra. With one flick of my fingers that barrier was gone and Bella giggled and then gasped for air as I sucked her into my mouth with a groan. She sighed and moaned and ground herself against me as I lavished attention on her beautiful breasts.

Running my hands down to the hem of her dress and then back up to the waistband of her panties, I tugged at them to get her to straighten out her legs for a moment so I could slide them off.

I stopped for a moment to be sure she was wanting to go forward, but she was already unbuttoning my shorts. The zipper followed and then she was easing off my shorts and my underwear together as I struggled to control my breathing.

She moved back up, settling over me with her dress covering us. Her hot, wet core pressed against my straining cock made me groan loud and deep, squeezing my eyes shut in an attempt to slow down my body's responses to her. When I opened them again she was watching me with such raw need and lust, a thrill ran through me and I twitched beneath her.

I traced a path with my fingers from her lips, down her neck to her chest and then across her taut, trembling stomach, finally settling between her splayed legs on the coiled little bundle of nerves there, all but screaming for my attention. With my other hand on the back of her neck, I pulled her down to kiss me, as I traced small circles over and over her swollen clit. The sweet, whimpering noises she made in my mouth were killing me, but I pressed on.

She moved against my hand and therefore against my cock and I wanted so badly just to slip inside her, but I held off, wanting to make her cum once first and more during. When she finally tensed up in anticipation, I lost my head.

"Come for me sugar, come on honey. I want to make you feel so good," I murmured in her ear.

There was a weird little pause and I thought, "Oh shit, Bella isn't into the dirty talking." But then she regained her pace and kicked it up a notch and soon she was coming with her head thrown back and her fists clenched in my open shirt.

As soon as she could, she focused on my face and smiled wickedly. She reached into the pocket of her sundress just as I reached for my shorts and we both came up with a foil-wrapped condom.

Bella laughed a little self-consciously. "I got some when Jasper stopped at the convenience store."

"Well, your condom or mine, baby?" I teased, wiggling my eyebrows at her. She just smirked at me as she ripped hers open.

"That was the first time I've ever been the one to buy condoms and I'll be damned if I'm not going to use one!" she exclaimed.

She shifted back and pushed her dress out of the way, rolling the condom over me with slightly shaky hands.

As she positioned herself over me, taking me in her hand to guide me to her, it occurred to me to ask her again if she was sure. Make sure she knew I would be okay if she didn't want to take it this far. But I couldn't do it. I wanted her too much to stop, couldn't find any words to say anyway.

Bella moved down until my tip was inside her, paused and then moved down a little more. The slow, sweet torture of it was making me crazy, but I was all for drawing this out. If this was the only time I got to be with her, I wanted it to count.

Finally, I was fully sheathed inside her and she pushed up against my chest so I had a heavenly view of her riding me, her beautiful breasts bouncing with her rhythm. I palmed them, teasing her nipples with short, hard flicks of my thumbs. She increased her pace, moaning and whimpering in her throat, eyes shut and lips pressed together to keep quiet as possible.

"Lean back a little, Bella," I whispered and she did it, her eyes opening and locking on mine.

I grabbed her hips to keep her steady and began to thrust my hips upward to meet her downward strokes. I was stunned when I heard her growl out, "Oh _fuck_!"

"Are you okay?" I asked her, slowing down.

She just laughed and slammed down on me harder so I picked back up where I left off. When I moved one hand to her now throbbing clit, she came again almost immediately. She laid down on my chest, continuing to ride me as she rode out the tremors of her orgasm. I was so close, but I needed a little more.

"Can we roll over, Bella?" I asked and she did it without a word, smiling with her eyes closed.

I hitched one of her long, silky legs (she waxed before she came down you know) over my shoulder and ran my finger along her to make sure she was still ready for me. She so was. I slid back into her with a loud growl and set the pace I needed.

It didn't matter to me, because the feeling of thrusting into her outweighed any little bit of discomfort, but a tiny bit of sand had, of course, gotten where it shouldn't be.

"You okay?" I panted. "The sand…"

"Don't care!" she cried. "God, you feel so good!"

Okay, maybe she did like to talk. "So do you, sugar…like heaven."

"Mmmm. Yeah, heaven," she sighed and shifted up a little so my pelvic bone was grinding against her clit with each pass. "Edward?"

"What sugar?"

"If you press down a little harder and go a little faster, I'll come again," she said so quietly I almost missed it.

So of course, I did exactly that. I came first, fighting the urge to stop and revel in the sensation to keep going until she followed after seconds later. Her ecstatic cries echoed in the nighttime air as the shocks and tremors rolled through her and then through me.

We lay panting in the eerie quiet of lapping water, holding each other close, but already drifting apart. Soon Bella broke the connection physically and emotionally. She moved away, straightening out her dress and retrieving her panties, her face a smooth mask of contentment. But her eyes gave her away even in the dim moonlight. They were overly bright and glistening and she wouldn't make eye contact with me. I straightened myself out and stood up to gather the towels.

"I guess we better get back. They'll be wondering where we are," Bella said with a big pretend smile, looking off over my shoulder toward the direction of the car.

It couldn't end like this. It wasn't some sleazy hook-up to be instantly regretted and soon forgotten. I dropped the towels and pulled her to me, enveloping her slim body with mine.

"Don't regret this. Don't regret me, Bella. I don't want to be a mistake to you," I told her, kissing the top of her head.

"You're not. I just…" she buried her head against my shoulder and held onto me tight.

"Bella, when I think about you, this whole weekend, I'll be thinking how sweet you are, and funny, and ungodly sexy and beautiful. I'll think about that first night and how my subconscious self couldn't help touching you and how you responded to me even though I screwed it up. I'll think about how much I hated seeing you leave with Jake yesterday and how you look in that blue bikini.

"I'll think about watching Top Chef and everything that came after. And how you were with my family today," I leaned back a little and tipped her face up to look at me. "And sugar, I'll think about tonight most of all and how lucky I am that you trusted me enough to give yourself to me. I don't take it lightly. And I won't regret it for a moment."

Bella stared into my eyes finally, at a loss for words, but a small smile was playing around her lips. "You can't be for real," she finally said. "If I stayed I'd find all kinds of flaws in you, wouldn't I?"

"Without a doubt," I laughed lightly. "But I will see you again sometime, Bella. I'm sure you'll get a chance to discover my flaws."

Finally, we had to go. The night air was turning cool as the breeze came off the water and Bella was shivering against me.

People were waiting for us and time wouldn't.

_**A/N: Reviews are writing fuel: You guys make me laugh and blush and think and write more! Thank you.**_


	8. Chapter 8 What Got Left Behind

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter Eight**

**What Got Left Behind**

**Bella's POV**

The captain of the plane came on over the intercom and made noises like the adults in a Charlie Brown cartoon. Why do they bother? Has anyone ever understood a damn word they said? And they always have this kind of lazy, low voice like they're so fucking impressed with themselves for being airplane pilots, they can't be bothered to enunciate.

I might be a little grumpy. And bitchy. And pissed off.

Last night was…well, last night was one of the best nights of my life. But today sucked hard and kept on sucking until it left bruises.

It wasn't Edward. He was great, laughing and talking comfortably and being as affectionate as he dared with Emmett nearby. In some ways that made it worse. I had this restless, anxious feeling that no matter how many times I checked and double-checked, I was going to be leaving something vital behind when I left Hilton Head Island.

My mind was doing emotional figure eights, twisting on itself over and over, but always coming back to the same conflicting thoughts. It was just my rotten luck to meet a man like Edward so far from home. And yet, if I had met him at home in Seattle, I probably would have avoided him like the plague, because I am not ready for another relationship. And he is a relationship kind of guy; not the kind you can have once and be satisfied to leave it at that. And yet, that's exactly what I had to do. I was making myself crazy.

Alice elbowed my arm off the armrest and I turned on her, irritation playing all over my face.

"Jeez, Bell, bitch slap me one good time if you must, but quit moping. You're supposed to be keeping my spirits up, remember?"

Right. Because Alice was leaving her boyfriend, her soul mate, behind, not me. Edward was a weekend fling. And really we had only actually flung once. I had no claim on consolation.

"Bella," Alice said, dropping her voice so no one else could hear her. "You're really upset, aren't you? Because of Edward?"

"No. No. I'm fine. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm sorry," I babbled. My irritation and resentment dissolved instantly.

Alice squeezed my arm and laid her head on my arm. "Don't be sorry. He's a great guy. Maybe he'll come to Seattle with Jasper next month."

"Speaking of Jasper," I said, oh-so-slickly changing the subject to Alice's amusement. "Is that who you and Esme were speaking of when we came into the kitchen yesterday?"

"Yes, actually. And that was not subtle, by the way, but I'll let it slide. Esme said…well, she told me that I was making one of the best men she knew, even better." Alice's eyes filled just as they had yesterday in Esme's kitchen.

"Alice! What a beautiful thing to say," I breathed, squeezing her hand this time.

Alice's tears spilled over, sliding down over the corners of her smile. "Bella, I was so nervous about this weekend. I love him like I love living. He'll be worth it even on the worst days. And I was terrified his family wouldn't like me or understand how serious I am about him. They mean everything to him."

"I know. Edward told me…some."

"About his worthless sperm and egg donors?" she said disdainfully.

"Yeah. I still can't quite believe it," I admitted.

"Believe it." Her face was grim and I knew she had to be thinking of Jasper's telling of the story, which must be so much worse than hearing it second hand from Edward. "He's much more forgiving than I am. He says they just aren't equipped to deal with hardships and he feels sorry for them more than anything."

"But what could be a bigger hardship than never seeing your son again?"

"Not having money, going to federal prison, not driving fancy cars and living in big houses; apparently, pretty much anything was worse than giving up Jasper to _them_."

"Okay, they suck. But he got the Cullens out of the deal. They could've stayed and I can't imagine that would've been better for him. And now he has you. And obviously his family loves you," I hugged her to me. "There's just one thing wrong."

"What?"

"You may not, under any circumstances, leave Seattle," I warned.

Alice laughed. "Well, you're going to have to help convince him to leave the island then," she shrugged.

"Done," I agreed.

By early evening we were touching down at Sea-Tac and getting Emmett's ridiculously big, overly tricked out Jeep out of long-term parking. He dropped roommates Alice and Rosalie off first since their place was two blocks closer than mine. He pulled up in front of my apartment building and turned to look at me.

"You had a good time," he said, as if he was just discovering something surprising.

I shrugged, rolling my eyes, "Yes, Emmett, I am capable of having a good time. Am I that unpleasant to be around?"

"No, Bells. Not unpleasant, but you've been unhappy. I'm glad you met _that__guy_, if he made you a little less unhappy."

"Did you really not like him, Em?"

"Nah, Edward's a good enough guy. It's just weird to see any guy looking at you the way I look at Rosie. And by weird I mean disgusting and gross. Sorry."

"I'm sorry you're such an ass, too, big brother," I patted him on the arm as I went to climb out of his ridiculous, over-sized Jeep.

Emmett offered to help me with my bags, but I had packed light as always, so I waved him off, telling him I'd see him later in the week.

In the elevator I leaned back and let my head rest against the wall. Was I less unhappy? In a way. In a big way. But there was a new kind of, maybe not unhappiness, but uneasiness in my chest. I took a deep breath and told myself to grow up.

It was a fantastic vacation and it was over. I had a life to get back to and I wasn't going to spend any time mooning over a man. Any man. Not even Edward. Not even though he insisted on coming to the airport with us and held me like it hurt to let go.

Not even though he whispered in my ear, _"__There__'__s__no__way__we__are__not__going__to__see__each__other__again,__sugar.__"_

I stepped off the elevator on the eleventh floor and turned to the left toward my apartment. I felt a manufactured sense of resolve and purpose for exactly thirty seconds before recognizing the tall, dark figure standing in front of my door.

Sam. Fuck. The only thing I was less prepared to deal with than a new relationship was my old one.

"Where the hell have you been?" Sam demanded striding toward me. He was still beautiful. Muscular and perfectly put together with sharply defined features, dark eyes and inky black hair that he wore short and slightly spiky. "Bella? I've been trying to reach you for days. Where have you been?"

His irritated repetition snapped me out of any appreciation for his appearance. "None of your business," I snapped and pushed around him.

I pulled my wheeled suitcase too hard in my anger and stress and rolled it up on the bridge of my foot. Biting the inside of my cheek to keep from crying, I unlocked my door and started inside.

I should never have looked back. But I did and Sam was standing where I left him looking lost and sorry.

"You're right," he sighed. "It's none of my business. I shouldn't even be here."

I just looked at him. I had nothing to say even if I could think of some nothing to say.

"I called you on Friday to see if I could pick up the rest of my stuff. I didn't really think anything of it when you weren't home, because you're never home anyway." I made a face at him and he held his hands up in apology. "But Saturday went by with no word, so I stopped by Sunday and…and…"

It took me a minute to get his hesitation, but when I did I felt a wave of hot anger roll through me. "You went in _my_ apartment to get your stuff?" I hissed between clenched teeth.

"Well, I…it was practically my apartment, too, Bells and, you know, you're hard to get a hold of. But when I went in I could tell you hadn't been home in a while and I started to worry. I've been over here three times today. I even called your parents and left a message for Emmett."

"Bet that went over big with Phil and Renee," I sneered.

He looked miserable. "Your dad hung up on me. They hate me."

"Yes. And contacting Emmett wasn't wise. Up til now he's been pretending you don't exist. Bad idea to remind him that you do." One of the advantages of having a big, muscle-headed brother? Using him to threaten people.

"Bella…" he trailed off, waiting for me to provide the means of escape from his guilt and misery. But that's not my job anymore.

"Give me your key. I would've asked for it before now, but once again I overestimated your character."

Sam dug in his jeans pocket for his key ring, his face growing dark with anger. "Goddammit, I know I hurt you. It eats at me how much I hurt you, but I fucking hate it when you act like I did it on purpose because I'm just an asshole. I loved you. I still do in a lot of ways—"

"Shut up!" I growled.

"I fell in love. Head over heels. I couldn't help it. I didn't do it on whim or because I was tired of you and looking around. Emily is my soul mate. What could I do?" he begged.

I just stared at him in disbelief that he was this clueless and self-serving. "What could you do? Okay. You could have told me when you first realized you had found your true love and that it wasn't me! You could have _not_ slept with both of us for three months! You could have used a condom, like any sane, adult male cheating on his girlfriend, and not gotten her pregnant!"

"Bella—"

"Shut up!" I roared, not caring that we were in the hallway and probably entertaining the whole floor. "You could have told me when she told you she was pregnant!"

I stepped up close to him and put my finger in his chest. "You could have done almost _anything_ _except_letting your pregnant something-on-the-side barge into my work and scream at _me_ for trying to break up her _marriage_ to my fiancée, you selfish, hateful, brainless, spineless _son__of__a__bitch_!"

"Hey!" Sam yelled, his face a mottled mask of anger and embarrassment and he was clenching his fists at his sides.

"Get the hell out of here, Sam," I finally said when I could control my heart pounding a little better. "I don't want or need your guilt or concern and if you _ever_ step foot into my apartment again, I'll castrate you with a rusty cleaver."

"Emily's afraid you're going to do something to her," he blurted as I was about to shut my door. It was so absurdly, ridiculously inappropriate a thing to say that I stopped and gaped at him. "She's having trouble sleeping and that's not good for the baby. I know you're beyond angry, but you're not are you? Planning to get back at her?"

I shook my head slowly in amazement. "You really don't know me at all do you? If I was going to come after anyone it would be you, not her. She's nothing to me."

"Bells…" Softly, imploringly, taking a step toward my door.

"Go home, Sam. Be grateful you have someone who still thinks you're worth fighting for." I shut the door firmly, but didn't slam it. I'd acted trashy enough for one night, screaming obscenities at my delusional ex-fiancée in the hallway.

I put my suitcase in my bedroom and took a quick shower to get the airplane funk off of me. I changed into some comfy old sweats and a t-shirt and turned on the television while I made myself some dinner.

I sat on the couch and ate, forcing my mind concentrate on _The__Amazing__Race_ on the DVR.

By eighty thirty, I was in bed, staring at the ceiling. I thought I would break down then. I'd been on the verge of it since I shut the door in Sam's face. But when I finally let my mind have free rein, it didn't race over to kick and bite at Sam. It picked it's way carefully over the sand to nuzzle Edward.

"_Don__'__t__regret__me,__Bella.__I__don__'__t__want__to__be__a__mistake__to__you,__"_ he had said. Who says things like that?

And I thought about his list of what he would remember about our time together that had caused a bubble of joy and longing to expand in my chest until it was nearly painful.

And the way he looked when my eyes finally adjusted to the light that first night. And coming across the sand to rescue me.

And every time he called me sugar.

And his hot breath in my ear, telling me to come, that he wanted to make me feel good…

I groaned with frustration and rolled over on my stomach, burying my head under my pillows. I needed to stop this and get some sleep. It suddenly occurred to me that this was the first night in four days that I had not spent in Edward's bed; that I had not had some form of sexual contact with him.

I sat up and got my iPod off of my bedside table, pushing the earbuds in and sinking into my sound cocoon. But music didn't stop the thoughts of Edward. It just turned them into a slideshow with a soundtrack.

I gave in to the onslaught of images and emotions, sliding my hand down between my legs, under the edge of my panties and gave myself a pale imitation of Edward's attentions.

_**A/N: What? Like we haven't all helped ourselves out when Edward was unavailable. :D **_


	9. Chapter 9 Bella in Her Element

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter Nine**

**Bella in Her Element**

**Edward's POV**

I'm getting sick of airplanes. I've had three interviews in the last three weeks which required air travel. The Charlotte interview was rescheduled and went fairly well, but it didn't feel like a good fit to me. The next week I had to be in Atlanta and go straight from there to Columbia, South Carolina.

I had intentionally kept my search in as small a radius as possible, trying to find just the right situation without going too far afield from my family. So far, of the three firms I had interviewed with, I liked Brady & Conlin in Columbia the most. They had everything I thought I wanted: The size of the firm, the type of projects they designed, the philosophy of building and design, the creative scope I would be allowed if they hired me. On paper they were a great fit for me.

So, when they called three days after the interview to offer me a position, you'd think I would be thrilled.

Jasper walked into the room just as I was getting off the phone. "Thank you Mr. Conlin, I'll let you know within a week…Okay…Thanks again…Goodbye."

"What's to think about?" Jasper asked as soon as I hung up. "That was Branford Conlin with Brady & Conlin, right? I thought they were the top pick."

"Yeah. They are, I just need to think it over a little more. I mean, we're talking about uprooting my whole life here. I just don't feel a hundred percent that it's the right thing to do," I shrugged, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"That's a big change from when you started this search," Jasper observed.

"I know, I know. I don't know what's going on with me. All of a sudden nothing feels right. I don't know what the hell I'm doing." I crossed my arms across my chest.

Jasper waited as if he expected me to add something, but I had nothing to add.

"You know what you need?" he finally asked, pointing at me with his beer bottle. "A vacation, to clear your head. And as a matter of fact, I just so happen to have booked you a flight to Seattle with me on Friday."

"What? Why? You already bought me a ticket?" my voice climbed higher and I cleared my throat to bring it back down to normal. I had to admit, the thought of seeing Bella again, made me a little giddy.

"Well, no, but you were excited when you thought I had, right? Let me get you a ticket, son. You want to see her again. You haven't been right since she left."

I'd tried to put Bella firmly in the back of my mind once she left. I had things I had to do and, though I knew I would see her again, I had no idea when, or what would come of it, so what was the point of dwelling on her sweet face, her long soft hair, the way she laughed, or the way she felt. God in heaven, the way she felt…

I scoffed. "Sure I'd love to see Bella again _sometime_. But I have too much going on right now. I'm just stressed over the interviews and making a decision and all."

Jasper sighed and reached over to a pile of mail on the kitchen counter. He picked up a small cardboard mailer that had come from Alice and pulled out a stack of pictures. He rifled through until he found the one he wanted and slapped it on the counter in front of me.

"Hey Edward, wanna come to Seattle with me on Friday?" he deadpanned, as I stared at the photo.

Someone, probably Alice, had snapped the picture of Bella and I walking in the surf on Coligny Beach. I'm looking down at her laughing, and she's leaning into my shoulder, looking up at me with a sweet, sly smile, her hair blowing slightly in the breeze. And did I mention the blue bikini?

"I guess I could use a break to clear my head," I agreed, knowing without a doubt that being around Bella was the last thing likely to clear my head. "But I'll get my own ticket."

Jasper just smirked at me. "Whatever you say, brother. I'm going to let Alice know you're coming."

So, now here I am on a plane again heading for Seattle. I want to see the Space Needle in person and Frank Gehry's neighboring EMP/SFM building complex. I had seen pictures, of course, of the bizarrely compelling building, but I had a feeling it was one of those things you just had to see in person to appreciate. And naturally I wanted to see anything and everything T.K. Franke had done, since his work inspired me to want to design on a much bigger scope and scale than vacation homes for the wealthy and idle.

But I have to be honest, the thoughts of what architectural landmarks I hoped to see occupied about 10 minutes of the flight and the rest of the time I spent wondering if Bella was excited that I was coming, if we would be able to pick up where we left off a month ago, what it was going to feel like to be in the same room with her again.

We had spoken four times since she left, about once a week. Twice we just happened to be nearby when Jasper and Alice were talking and they put us on the phone with one another. And twice I had called her, just having the urge to hear her voice. We were friendly and comfortable enough, but there was that undeniable barrier that distance and a loosely defined relationship automatically create. I had not been able to get a hold of her since my rash decision to fly out with Jasper, but Alice told me things had been 'crazy busy' at Beck's and assured me that she was thrilled I was coming.

Have I mentioned that Alice is a devious, manipulative little liar?

Alice picked us up at the airport and as soon as she and Jasper stopped dry humping each other on the curb, she informed me that Bella had to work, but that we were going to drop by the restaurant and see if she was done for the morning.

Seattle was earning its rainy reputation. A steady drizzle blurred everything, leaving me with the impression of expanses of green in every shade, broken by blocks of white, grey and beige and punctuated by splashes of bright color.

Alice whipped her little yellow sports car into a space in front of a slate gray restaurant with shiny black double doors. Jasper and I folded ourselves out of her car and hurried after her through the double doors to get out of the rain.

"I'm sorry, we're not—oh, hi, Alice," a guy in a white t-shirt and jeans was just finishing up vacuuming the dining area.

"Hi Dave, this is Jasper and Edward. Jasper and Edward, that's Dave. We're just picking up Bella for lunch." The guy didn't seem offended, just laughed and went back to work winding the cord on the vacuum.

She blew through the dining room to the kitchen. Following Alice, Jasper and I had an unobstructed view as we walked into the bright white and stainless steel kitchen. It was unexpectedly loud with music playing, pots and pans banging, water gushing, knives clanking.

Bella stood out in the midst of the chaos, an island of concentrated calm in the storm. She had her back to me and she was wearing a white chef's toque, her shiny, dark brown hair hung in a French braid halfway down her back with a twisted blue cloth band holding any stray wisps out of her face.

She swayed slightly to the music as she worked on something in front of her I couldn't see. Someone called to her and she looked over smiling and laughing.

One of the many, many males (I saw only one other female out of about ten kitchen staff) turned the radio up suddenly as the song changed and the whole kitchen, including Bella, started singing. "E'rybody in the club gettin' tipsy!"

A tall, good-looking guy with a blond ponytail grabbed Bella's hips and attempted to fake grind with her. She good naturedly did a sort of mock club move with her hands in the air and her hips twitching amid the hoots and hollers of the rest of the staff.

Just as my seething jealously reached its boiling point, Bella laughed and stepped away from the jackass, turning the radio back down swiftly.

"Come on guys, let's bang this out! I don't want to be here all day again. I have plans," she said. A few grumbled good-naturedly but they settled back to work.

Alice tried to get Bella's attention, but it was just too noisy and chaotic.

"Buck, did you break down those chickens yet?" Bella called.

"Not yet, chef," a slender dark-haired guy, probably eighteen or nineteen years old, answered.

Bella shook her head at him. "If I have to 86 the chicken dishes halfway through dinner service tonight because you didn't have time to prep enough, I'll be adding fricasseed Buck balls to the menu instead."

The laughter and ribbing that erupted around the kitchen was enough to make Buck's slightly prominent ears bright red, but he still grinned at Bella like she was the Queen and he'd just been knighted. He immediately headed for the walk-in cooler.

"Bella? Looks like Tinkerbell brought some visitors," one of the dishwashers, who was apparently familiar with Alice, had spotted us standing in the doorway and pointed with a dripping spatula.

"Hi y'all!" Alice cried, waving at everyone merrily.

"Alice! Jasper! You guys are earl—" Bella stopped short when she saw me, a look of confusion quickly replaced by shock. "_Edward_? What are you doing here?"

I found myself tongue-tied by the distance and the service counter between us, not to mention the audience. I turned to Alice for an explanation.

"Surprise!" Alice said cheerfully, flinging her arms out.

"Um, give me fifteen minutes?" Bella suggested, with a quick dark look at Alice.

Alice agreed with a little wave to everyone and ushered Jasper and I back out into the dining room.

"_Alice_!" That was all I could say without going off on her dirty, double-crossing little ass.

"Darlin', you didn't tell Bella that Edward was coming?" Jasper clarified, moving slightly between Alice and I.

"Have a seat guys, I have an explanation," Alice assured us, leading the way once again.

I realized I had done little else besides follow her around since we landed at Sea-Tac and I was starting to get a little heated. And yet, the rule of the bossy women continued and Jasper and I took a seat on either side of her and waited for her to explain herself.

"Look, Bella is a little over-wound sometimes. If she knew you were coming she would have obsessed and driven herself, and me, crazy, and scoured her bizarrely clean apartment from top to bottom and probably found some excuse to disappear at the last second," Alice started. She saw that I was about to interrupt and held up a dangerously manicured hand. "Not because she doesn't want to see you. Because she does."

I just stared at her. I got what she was trying to tell me. What they had all been trying to tell me from the beginning. Bella was gun shy. Bella was fresh off a bad relationship. Bella wasn't ready to deal with me as more than an occasional fling at the most. I should never have come here without talking to her personally and asking her if she wanted me.

"This isn't right, Alice. I don't want to force her into this position," I said, wishing I could walk out the door and be back on a plane headed home.

"You didn't force her into anything, I did," Alice pointed out. "If it doesn't go well, you can all blame me. But I'm not worried."

I looked to Jasper, wanting some commiseration, but he was gazing on Alice with abject admiration. I just huffed and slunk down in my chair.

Alice and Jasper talked between themselves while I let my mind wander, mostly to how I was going make Alice, and maybe Jasper, pay for this mess if it ended badly.

"Hi," I heard Bella's voice, soft again, now that she was in the quiet dining room instead of the rowdy kitchen.

I turned and she was smiling, her face flaming pink. It reminded me forcibly of her sunburn and that led me to the night on my bed, and the various cures for sun poisoning.

"Hey, sugar," I said quietly, holding out my hand to her. "I'm sorry for surprising you like this. I _thought_ you knew I was coming."

I looked pointedly at Alice who just smiled, completely satisfied with herself. Bella took a step closer and took my hand loosely in hers as if she wasn't sure what to do with it.

"Bella, can you get away for lunch?" Alice asked, sweetly.

"Yes, I don't need to be back until six-thirty."

"Great. Edward, we'll meet up with you at Bella's place at six." Alice grabbed Jasper's hand and was halfway out the door before I could figure out what the hell she said. Damned Northerners talk too fast. "Enjoy your lunch!"

"See y'all later!" Jasper called as the door shut behind them.

"Well…" Bella sighed, staring at the door. She turned back to me and, thank the Lord, she was grinning. "We've been had."

I returned the smile and pulled her closer as I stood up. "Your little friend is a devil in disguise. She told me she told you I was coming."

"I doubt that," Bella laughed. "I imagine you'll find that she gave that impression without actually saying the words. She's a master at the finer points of lying without actually lying."

Alice was the last thing I wanted to be talking about at that point so I pulled Bella even closer and put my arms around her.

"Is it all right that I'm here?" I asked her softly, looking into those deep, dark brown eyes.

She just nodded, meeting my gaze with a slight smile curving her full lips. She stretched up toward me, almost closing the distance between our mouths, when the kitchen door swung open unleashing a wall of noise into the dining room. The ponytail-guy stood in the doorway for a moment and then swung back through into the kitchen.

Bella jumped away from me self-consciously. "Um, we should get some lunch. You must be hungry. Do you mind if we go to my apartment first so I can clean up and change clothes? I don't usually go anywhere in my kitchen clothes."

I checked out her outfit then. She had taken off the chef's jacket and shaken out her hair. She was wearing low-slung, body-hugging jeans, so thoroughly broken in and worn that I'd be willing to bet she'd had them since college, with a dark gray t-shirt sporting a white cartoon bunny. She could have passed for a high schooler in that outfit, looking at me all shy and sweet. I felt a little like a perverted honorary uncle looking her over and thinking the things I was thinking.

"That'd be fine. I wouldn't mind washing up a little myself, although your evil friend has my bag in her car."

We walked out into the drizzle, Bella shrugging into a bright blue rain coat and putting up the hood. She hurried around the back to her car with me right behind her. As soon as we were seated inside where it was dry and warm, I couldn't contain myself.

"Holy hell, Bella! This is a Volvo S60r!" I all but yelled in the enclosed space.

She leaned away from me with a mixture of amusement and concern on her face. "Yes, I know. It came with a little booklet when I bought it."

"You don't understand, sugar! This is the car, _my_ car, the car I wanted, I mean," I babbled, running my hands over the dash.

Bella was openly smirking at me now, as she started the engine and backed out of the space. "So why didn't you buy it? This was my big splurge for myself when I got the job with Chef Tyler."

Suddenly, I didn't want to tell her why I didn't buy this car when I had the chance. She was either going to laugh at me or be offended.

"Jasper made fun of me," I mumbled. "He said it was a dad car."

"Jasper made fun of you. You didn't buy the car you wanted because Jasper made fun of you." She was fighting back the laughter now. "Aren't you a grown man?"

Laughing at me. Well, fine. "Last I checked. How about last time you checked?" I asked suggestively, effectively taking the heat off of me.

"Edward…" she said warningly.

"I'm sorry. Too much?"

"I don't know. I just…the way things were in Hilton Head. I don't know if…" she trailed off, her blush written all over her once again. I should have felt bad for embarrassing her, but god in heaven I love that blush.

"Bella, honey, listen to me. I know there are a lot of complications. I'm open to however you want things to be. If you want to just be friends…"

Bella kept her eyes on the road, her blush becoming ever deeper, but she said nothing.

"Please tell me you don't want to just be friends, sugar," I begged, trying to sound like I was kidding. I was trying to get her to loosen up a little, get back that feeling between us that we had in Hilton Head. I reached over and put my hand on her thigh, just high enough to make her tense up.

"You're killing me with that stuff," she finally sighed. She pulled into a parking garage, and her face was thrown into shadow as my eyes adjusted.

"Sorry," I repeated, pulling my hand back. I needed to exercise some control here or she was going to run for the hills first chance she got. Bella pulled into a space and cut the engine, but didn't move to get out of the car.

"Not that," Bella said quietly, leaning toward me. "It's all the 'sugars' and 'honeys', you have no idea."

Before I could respond with some fantastically witty comeback that I'm sure was inevitable, her lips were on mine, and one hand wound into the hair at the back of my neck and pulled me closer. The taste of her was such a strong memory trigger that I groaned involuntarily. She pulled back a little, licking her lips self-consciously and grinning in embarrassment.

"Call me the queen of mixed signals," she acknowledged apologetically.

I put my forehead to hers, bringing my hand up to caress her cheek with my thumb.

"I'll take what you want to give," I murmured not caring how big a wussy I sounded. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about you, that night at the cove, all of it."

"Me neither," she acknowledged. "But…"

I waited, but she didn't go on.

"Why don't we go get cleaned up and get some lunch? On my honor, I'll be a perfect gentleman," I assured her gently.

Sighing and nodding regretfully (at least that's the way I chose to interpret it), Bella opened her door.

"By the way, I assume this is your bag back here." She opened the back door and hauled out my suitcase. "Alice strikes again. I guess that means you're staying with me this…weekend? Week? How long are you staying?"

"Five days. We head home early Wednesday morning. I don't have to stay here, Bella. I didn't assume—"

"Oh no. You are not going home to tell Esme I didn't return your fine hospitality," she said, suddenly joking and relaxed again. She was going to give me emotional whiplash at this rate. We went into the building and straight to the elevators, where Bella held the door for me as I wheeled my bag in.

"That reminds me. Mom sent something along for you to say thank you for the cookbook," I said.

She punched the button for the eleventh floor and I marveled at how anyone could live in a box in the sky like this all the time. Hotels were one thing, but to live all cooped up all the time?

"She didn't have to do that," Bella was saying. "The book was no big deal at all and Bruce was happy to sign it for her."

Bruce? What happened to Chef Tyler? Which, by the way, gave the impression of a much older and somewhat portly gay man. The man on the cover of that damn cookbook looked to be in his late thirties at most, in good shape with a big cocky grin. I grimaced at the thought of how much time Bella spent with him, working side by side. But I knew better than to even attempt to find out if Bella had ever had a thing for her boss or vice versa.

We stepped off the elevator and turned to the left. I was pleasantly surprised at the floor-to-ceiling windows at either end of the hall, even if there wasn't much light to let in at the moment. She opened the door and ushered me in with mock formality. I could tell she was nervous, though. Her eyes darted around her apartment as if she was trying to see it the way I would see it.

I walked around slowly, taking everything in. What I saw was Bella. It was careful and quiet. Everything looked carefully arranged, carefully chosen, intended to show that a capable, responsible adult woman lived here. But there were other things at work. The furniture was all tailored and neutral colors, but there was a fuzzy scarlet red throw crumpled on one end of the couch where she must have been cuddled up for a while last night or this morning.

She had a fair amount of artwork that seemed random unless you looked a little closer and saw the subtle thread of eroticism running through them. None were overtly sexual, but all were suggestive in some way. No landscapes for Bella.

The kitchen was the best. It was a standard neutral apartment kitchen, albeit a nice one, but Bella had made it her own with bright red rugs and dish towels, stainless steel small appliances of all kinds and a gorgeous collage of black and white photos of Bella and, I assumed, all the important people and places in her life, hung over the sink. It was probably 16x20 in a black lacquer frame with just a few random touches of that same bright red in the photos.

The very best thing about it, though? Tucked into the right hand corner of the frame was the same picture Jasper had used to lured me to Seattle.

"If you look close, you can see you starting to pink up in this," I teased her.

"Stop looking at it so closely," Bella suggested, trying to step between me and the picture.

"I have the same photo on my refrigerator," I grinned. "I'm going to frame it and put it by my bed. I can look at it as closely as I want, as often as I want thanks to Alice."

"She really is the interferingest little—"

"Genius?" I supplied. I hooked a finger through the belt loops of her jeans and pulled her a little closer for a soft, quick kiss

"Sometimes," Bella agreed. She was smiling, but I could feel her leaning back and I let go gently. "I'm just going to take a quick shower so I don't smell like garlic and fish. Make yourself comfortable, I won't be long."

I stretched out on her couch and turned the TV on ESPN2. It had been a long flight after a very early morning and within minutes I was asleep.

"Edward?" I startled awake to the sound of Bella's voice. The sight of her, naked and still dripping wet, standing before me, brought me to my feet.

"Bella?" I questioned, my voice strained and hoarse with sudden desire.

"I couldn't wait anymore," she whispered, wrapping her arms around my neck. "I was standing there in the shower and I couldn't stop thinking about your hands on me. Your mouth. Everything."

I groaned and pressed myself against her, realizing to my shock that I was completely naked, too. When the hell had I taken my clothes off? Goddamn was my subconscious powerful when I was around Bella!

My hands slid over her slick, wet back and down over her shapely little ass, pulling her tighter against me. "Mmmm. Bella, sugar."

From somewhere near the bedroom, Bella called to me. "Edward?"

What the hell? Bella was in my arms, about to be underneath me, all around me. How was she calling me from across the room?

I opened my eyes and I was lying on Bella's sofa, fully clothed and completely disoriented.

"Are you all right?" Bella asked, coming closer. She was dressed and her damp hair was pinned up on the back of her head. "You were moaning in your sleep."

I sat up, feeling an uncomfortable heat climbing up my face. "Just hungry I think, and tired from the long flight."

"I figured it was something like that," Bella said neutrally, but I looked up and caught her smirking. "Sounded like you were in the mood for something _sweet._"

Surprising her with my lightning fast reflexes, I grabbed her hand and pulled her roughly onto my lap. "Oh, sugar, you're going to pay for that."

**A/N:** _HA-HA-HA! (I hope.) I started off writing a lemon for the end, but it was just too manufactured. This seemed so much more appropriate for the first chapter in Seattle. Plus, you know good stuff is coming up in the beginning of the next chapter! =D_


	10. Chapter 10 Panting & Painting

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter Ten**

**Panting & Painting**

**Bella's POV**

I had been dreaming of this, night and day practically, since I got home from Hilton Head a month ago. I was wrapped in Edward's arms, cradled in his lap against his broad, muscular chest, and he was kissing me hungrily with undisguised desire.

This was one of my favorite things about Edward. He just threw himself open to me. Whatever he was feeling in the moment, he said it, he acted on it, he had yet to try to push me to reciprocate in any particular way. He seemed to be content to let me react however I was going to react and take his cues from there.

The problem was that my cues were zigzagging like a drunken monkey on roller skates and I knew it. I just didn't know how to control it. One minute I was on the verge of stripping him naked and taking him wherever he lay, and the next…well, I was still on the verge of that, but my mind was resisting what my body was insisting.

"Bella?" Edward interrupted my pointless internal monologue. He dropped his mouth to my neck and shoulder as he spoke. "Honey, do me a favor and get out of your head. Just tell me where we go from here. If you want me to back off, I will, but you're going to have help me out with that."

"Help you out," I repeated mindlessly, eyes shut against the sensations he was creating.

"Yes, help me out, as in stop responding to me like this." He held me with one arm and ran the other over my shoulder and down my arm, settling on my hip with a light squeeze. A thrill ran through me, making me shiver. "I'm only human, Bella."

"I'm sorry," I breathed, but I didn't get off his lap. I shifted so I was straddling his thighs and laid my head on his shoulder, my hand over his pounding heart. I decided to just go with the plain truth. "I don't know what to do with you just showing up like this. I can't think straight."

I felt the laughter rumble through his chest and he wrapped his arms around me comfortably. "I'm going to take that as a compliment. You do the same thing to me. I shouldn't even be here. I should be working or deciding where I'm going to be working. Did I tell you I got a job offer from that firm I told you about in Columbia?"

"No! Congratulations, Edward, really." I sat up and leaned back to look at him. I tried hard to sound happy for him, but the distance to Columbia was no easier to deal with than the distance to Hilton Head.

"Thanks. I'm not sure if I'm taking it yet. I have a week to decide," he shrugged and it seemed as if he didn't much want to talk about it.

"So…why are you here?" I asked coyly.

"Fishing for compliments?" He grinned and shook his head at me. "I'll give you two guesses and the first one doesn't count."

I knew he came to see me. It's not like he hid his attraction to me. Before I left, he had promised we'd see each other again, and there was that speech he made about not regretting him… So why was it so hard to believe? I guess I didn't really believe the pull between us would be enough to keep me on his mind once I was out of sight. But apparently, it was.

Taking a deep breath, I made my decision. I had five more days with Edward and no matter what would or wouldn't come after, I wasn't going to waste it. It might be temporary, but there was nothing casual or unlovely about it.

"No more mixed signals," I promised, smiling as confidently as I could. "Whatever this is, it's good, right?" Okay, that was a little wishy-washy, but Edward didn't seem to mind.

"It's better than good. Come here." He pulled his arms tighter around me, pulling me closer, but then he relaxed them again, with a slight shake of his head. "I'm going to let you lead, sugar."

Crap. There was no way I could resist this man, but I so did not want to be in charge of…_moving__things__along_. Why did I feel like such a neophyte with Edward? Granted I was never the sleeping around, one-night stand type, but I wasn't a virgin, either. I'd slept with a few men, okay five including Sam, and the sex with Sam was more than good, if not as often as I would've liked. Although, I suppose that made sense now, looking back; between my work schedule and his other girlfriend… Shit. Why was I thinking about that now?

At any rate, nothing in my sexual experience even compared to the night at the cove with Edward. Or even the night before that on his bed, just fooling around. And that first night, waking up to him all over me? _That_ was in a category of its own.

"Edward, I—thank you for coming to see me," I said lamely. Before he felt the need to respond with something equally inane, I leaned in and claimed his mouth.

It was like a full body deep, relaxing breath. This is what I was missing and what I was meant to be doing. Without thinking I took his face in my hands and deepened the kiss. When I had to breathe I leaned back slightly and our eyes locked. The look in his eyes sent my heart racing. Whatever I did to deserve someone like Edward looking at me like that—I needed to figure out what it was and do it again and again.

"Bella," he murmured, stretching up to take my earlobe in his teeth gently. He moved to run his tongue along my neck down to the hollow where my neck met my shoulder. When he closed his lips over that spot and sucked lightly, I moaned softly. When he bit down gently I squeaked. Yes, I actually made a noise that can only be described as a squeak. Which made me giggle. Which made Edward laugh quietly. And I remembered that what we were doing was fun and it felt right.

I found the hem of his shirt and pulled it up until he lifted his arms and let me tug it over his head. His body was even more incredible than I remembered and I took my time running my hands over his lean, well-defined muscles. When my fingers grazed his nipples, he stiffened and huffed out a breath.

When I needed to feel more of him, I peeled off the soft cotton t-shirt I had just put on and threw it on the floor. Edward decided to get in the game when I didn't get my bra off fast enough for his taste.

"Uhn, oh god, you're good at that!" I babbled when his mouth closed over my sensitive nipple.

Edward laughed again, the deep vibrations of his voice adding another layer of sweet torture to what he was doing to me with his mouth. He moved to my other breast and I made the mistake of looking down at him, only to see him grinning evilly up at me as his tongue flicked over and over the tight, swollen peak.

He pushed me to stand up, his hands automatically going to the button on my jeans. My traitorous hands closed over his wrists, stopping him, when that was the last thing I wanted to do. His hands moved to my hips and he watched me for a clue to his next move.

"I'm sorry. I…" I gestured meaninglessly. I gave up trying to explain myself and showed him what I wanted by unbuttoning and unzipping my jeans myself. I slid my fingers under the waistband of my panties, too, and wriggled out of both until I was standing in front of Edward completely naked and trembling slightly.

If ever there was a moment to feel insecure, this was certainly it.: Buck naked in broad daylight with a beautiful and true son of the South sitting eye-to-crotch level with me. But just try to feel insecure with Edward looking at you like all his fantasies come to life. A little pressured, maybe, but not insecure.

He pulled me a step closer with his hands on my hips, and kissed my stomach almost reverently. It was a strange and incredibly erotic thing to do. I ran my hands into his hair, earning a soft groan from him.

"Can you trust me, sugar?" he asked. Before I could answer, he had slipped a hand behind one knee and pulled my leg up and over his shoulder.

Being the reigning blush champion of North America, you'd think I'd be used to it, but the force of all the blood rushing to the surface of my skin, made me feel weak and light-headed for a moment. I knew I was bright pink from head to toe and I cursed my body's childish response to a very adult situation, until Edward spoke again.

"I love the way you color up when I touch you," Edward murmured, running one hand over my hips, up my stomach to my flushed chest. His other hand held me steady, splayed on my lower back. He pushed me closer to him without further warning and dipped his head so he could lightly trace his tongue over and over my now aching sex.

How to describe it? It was like Hell; having what you wanted more than anything, but not _really_having it. Like someone offering you a lick of the best lollipop ever, but then barely touching it to the end of your tongue so it never got to your taste buds.

I tried moving a little closer, but Edward moved back the same amount. I still had my hands in his hair, for balance, and because I just wanted to, but the urge to just shove his face harder against me was becoming unbearable.

I waited a little too long to say anything and instead of a sweet, breathy request, it came out like some demonic command. "Dammit, Edward! Harder! Please, more!"

He stopped altogether to my complete mortification, but he didn't let me go. The apology and exit strategy were forming in my mind, when I heard him laugh, all low and seductive.

"All you had to do was ask, sugar. What took you so long?" I'll be damned if the devil himself wasn't shining right up at me in Edward's unholy beautiful face.

I pushed him back and stepped away, furious that he was making fun of me, now, of all times. But Edward wasn't having it. In a flash, he was off the couch and tackling me to the ground, cushioning the fall by turning so I landed on him.

"Let me go, you jerk!" I cried, trying to wriggle out of his grasp.

"I'm sorry, Bella! Come on, sugar, don't be like that," he wheedled, but I could still hear the laughter in his voice. "I just wanted you to speak up. I love it when you talk during sex and you don't do it much, so…"

"So you tricked me," I accused, but the fire was fading.

"I prefer to think of it as properly motivating you," he said and hastily continued before I could say anything more. "And if you'll just settle down, I'll finish what I started. If you're still mad after that, you can throw me out into the cold, cruel city."

He was already rolling me onto my back and moving down between my legs, so it seemed best to just go along. Plus I couldn't remember any more words.

As soon as his tongue found its target again, I realized just exactly how much he had been holding out on me. He explored every inch of me, with firm, sure strokes, before stopping to push inside over and over. That was a new sensation and I couldn't help the low, formless noises that were coming from deep inside me. I realized to my chagrin that I was arching up into his face and tried to settle down, but he grabbed my hips and pulled me back up where I was.

When he moved to my clit, using two fingers to replace where his tongue had been, it was only a minute or two before I was shuddering and quaking with the force of my first decent , non-self-induced orgasm in a month. I collapsed on the floor like a boneless, useless lump and tried to catch my breath.

After a moment Edward moved up to lay alongside me, and I realized he had finished undressing when his very insistent erection began tapping me on the leg. He carefully ran his long, dangerous fingers all over my super-sensitive skin.

"You want to throw me out?" he asked, in a deeper, huskier voice than normal.

"Maybe later," I sighed, closing my eyes. "Too tired right now. I'm going to catch a little nap."

I heard a low growl just before his hands went around my waist, pulling me up and over to straddle him.

"We're going to have to work on your endurance, sugar, because I've barely gotten started." His smooth, intense words sounded like both a threat and a promise.

"Seems like you want something," I mused playfully. "But what could it be? Oh, if only you would talk to me…"

"I want to be inside you," Edward said forcefully, looking me dead in the eye. His hands were tight on my hips again and I found myself getting even more excited by that further evidence of his need and desire for me. "Please, I need to be inside you now."

"What's the magic word?" I asked breathlessly, as I positioned myself over his straining cock.  
"I said please, baby," Edward pleaded, his eyes closing tight in frustration.

"Not please," I panted as I lowered myself onto him. "Call me sugar again."

Edward's eyes popped open in surprise and he grinned at me just before he groaned loud and dug his fingers harder into my hips. I had pushed myself down until he was fully in me and we both stilled for a moment, adjusting to being joined this way once again.

"Oh, shhhhhh…ugar, you feel incredible!" Edward growled. He began to rock up into me gently and I could barely catch my breath.

A lot of very dirty things were running around my brain, but between the sensation of Edward moving inside me and my natural reticence, I couldn't force myself to talk. And yet I was still vocal, more so than I had ever been.

For once in my life, I stopped thinking about anything but the present moment. The only thing that mattered was taking what I needed from Edward and giving him what he needed from me.

"You're beautiful, Bella," he murmured, watching me intently as I moved over him. I didn't know what to say to that, but I forced myself not to look away from his gorgeous, lust-dark green eyes.

As much as I liked being on top, I knew from experience that letting Edward take control was in my best interest. I shifted and he rolled with me. When I was on my back and he was over me, he reached up with one hand and brushed my hair from my eyes, running his hand along my cheek to my neck. He pressed his hand over my heart just like I had done to him earlier.

"Your heart is pounding like crazy, sugar."

I rolled my eyes and smiled at him, biting my bottom lip out of habit. And because I knew he loved it. "Yes, Edward, you make my heart pound, you make me—"

"What? I make you what?"

"You make me wet. You make me crazy, Edward, okay?" I hissed at him, frustrated and turned on by his insistence that I put my feelings into words.

His answer was that evil crooked grin that turned my brains to mush, which was fine since I really didn't need them for this. I wrapped one leg around his hip and pulled him harder against me which he took as a challenge. God, what that man could do when properly motivated!

Sometime later, I lay in Edward's arms, just as sweaty and in need of a shower as I was when I left work. As the pleasant little aftershocks of my third orgasm diminished so did my ability and willingness to live in the moment.

Edward seemed to be drifting off to sleep, so I took the opportunity to slip out from under his arm. I needed to get back in the shower and give myself a moment to think about what I was doing and what I needed to do from here.

"Is it going to be like this every time?" Edward asked, his voice startling me.

I was almost to the bedroom door. "Oh! I thought you were asleep."

"You hoped I was asleep," he corrected. "Please come here, sugar."

I padded back to him, now painfully aware of being naked. Why it should bother me at that point, I couldn't say, but it did. I sat down beside him as modestly as possible, even though every fiber of my being was yearning to escape to the bathroom and lock the door.

"This is the second time you've tried to escape immediately after sex. Is it going to be this way every time?"

"You're assuming there will be more times?" I asked playfully, trying to deflect.

"Oh, I guarantee it, honey. But you're breaking my heart the way you disappear on me the second you stop coming."

Oh god. Did I say I liked his directness?

"I…jeez, Edward. I was just going to get in the shower and I didn't want to wake you up."

"Bella, come on. You did the same thing that night at the cove. Your eyes just go blank and it's like you've already mentally left the building and moved on. You're confusing me," he accused gently.

I didn't know what to say that wouldn't sound childish and ridiculous. I wanted to be the uninhibited, sexually adventurous woman I felt like when he was touching me, goading me, teasing me. But that wasn't the real me. It never had been. I was practical and smart and responsible.

Having sex with Edward Cullen at every available opportunity was not practical, smart or responsible. It was bound to lead to more pain later.

"Okay, sugar. I'm not going to push you right now. But just know that I stand by what I said before: I don't take this lightly. I'm not sure what to do about it, either, but I rarely fly 2,000 miles for a booty call."

I rolled my eyes, but I have to admit, his words calmed the mild panic that had been building in my chest.

"Let's go get a late lunch," I suggested. "We need to do some stuff I can tell Alice about when she asks, because she _will_ ask."

My plan was to take him to one of my favorite Thai restaurants and then take him to Pike's Market to walk around a bit. But we ended up talking for so long over lunch that I had just enough time to get back to my apartment and change, yet again, for work.

Before I left for Beck's, I called Alice just to be sure they didn't forget about Edward. Alice answered the phone breathless and giggling.

"What are you doing?" I asked automatically, and immediately thought the better of it. "No! Don't answer that!"

"Don't be silly Bella. We're just painting."

I heard Jasper laugh in the very near background.

"Painting? What—you know what? Nevermind. Are you going to pick Edward up for dinner or something? I have to get to work and I don't want to just leave him."

"Sure, we need to get showers," she started giggling again. "You know, because of the painting. But we'll be over after that in an hour or so."

I relayed the message to Edward and he accepted it cheerfully.

"I'm kind of done in, anyway. I'll catch a few winks while I wait for them. Are we coming to your restaurant for dinner?" he asked.

"Um, no. Probably not. I really prefer to keep work and real life separate," I mumbled.

"Why is that?" Edward frowned. "Your co-workers seemed familiar enough with Alice."

"Oh, well, yes, Alice. But this is a little different—well, restaurant kitchens tend to be male dominated and some of the guys have trouble with a female running the line. It took a long time to earn my position of authority in their eyes and I think the less they know about my personal life, the easier it is for them to see me as just the tyrant who will gut them if they screw up." I was kidding, sort of, but I really have no trouble threatening anyone who's slacking on my line and I did have a couple of guys fired early on who just wouldn't accept my authority.

Edward was openly laughing. "I saw how they interact with you. I hate to tell you that while they do seem to respect you, you're ruling mainly by the grace of the male libido."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I was seriously offended now, but Edward didn't seem to realize that yet.

"It's obvious that a least a few of them have a thing for you. That punk with the cheesy ponytail and that poor kid you threatened, for example." Edward shrugged, still grinning, as if it were a closed subject.

A quick look at my watch told me I didn't have time to say everything I would've liked to say, but I couldn't leave it at that.

"I have to go, Edward, but you should know that it pisses me off when people assume I use my 'feminine wiles' to get ahead in the restaurant. I work my ass off and I expect the same of anyone who works under me. Come on down and ask my line tonight if you need to. I guarantee they'll tell you they work hard for me because I am damn good at what I do and I make them better at what they do." I could feel the heat in my face rising to match the heat I felt inside, but I stood my ground.

"I didn't mean to offend you, honey," Edward sounded and looked genuinely contrite. "I just spoke without thinking. I guess I really didn't like the way that guy was touching you this afternoon."

"James? James is harmless. He didn't mean anything by it."

Edward said nothing, but the look on his face was stubborn and disbelieving.

"I have to go," I repeated. "Tell Alice I'll call when I'm done tonight and find out where to meet you all."

"Hey! I'm sorry, really. Have a good night," Edward said sweetly. He got up and came to the door, kissing me good-bye in a way that almost made me forget I was irritated with him.

I was flustered when I got to work which is never a good start to a dinner service. I couldn't stop thinking about Edward from every angle. I mean, the sex, the conversation over lunch that seemed to fly by, the…unpleasantness just before I left for work. I was afraid I had just discovered Edward's first flaw. Or maybe first two flaws. He might be a little bit of a chauvinist and he was definitely the jealous type.

"How was your afternoon, chef?" James had come up behind me. His mouth was way too close to my ear and his voice was inappropriately suggestive.

I was confused and surprised. I had thought Edward was being ridiculous about James. I would've sworn it until this moment. But there was an undeniable shift in his attitude and I wasn't sure where it was coming from.

James was one of Beck's best line cooks, but he often volunteered to work prep, too, lately, which meant we'd been spending a lot of time together. He was definitely a flirt, but he had never given me a reason to think he meant anything by it.

"It was fine, James, thank you," I said briskly. "How was yours?"

"Oh…uneventful," he said pointedly with a mocking little laugh. He walked away to check his station one more time, but the look he gave me over his shoulder was almost angry behind the sly smirk.

I brushed it off, along with all thoughts of Edward. I truly loved the nights when Chef Tyler was out of town and I was in charge of the kitchen. It was a taste of what it would be like when I had my own restaurant.

It was time to work, the thing I was best at. Everything else would keep until after the teeming hoards were fed and happy.

It was a long service, but fortunately one of the advantages to my position is walking away at the end of service, leaving the general manager to supervise the staff in cleaning up for the next day. But then, most of them would be sound asleep when I got up at five tomorrow morning to hit the fresh market and meet the delivery trucks.

I went home to shower and change for the third time that day and then called Alice's cell phone at eleven, expecting to hear loud music and a crowd behind her.

"Hi, Al. Where are you guys?" I asked. I could hear Emmett's booming voice and then Jasper's deep, mellow laughter, but they definitely weren't at a club.

"We decided to stay here at the apartment," Alice explained. "We've been playing cards and we ordered pizza, but it was gone a long time ago." She used her pitiful sad voice and I knew she was angling for me to bring food from the restaurant.

"I've already got stuff packed up, so save the theatrics. I'll be there in about fifteen minutes."

When I walked into Alice and Rosalie's apartment, I was immediately accosted by Emmett and Edward. Emmett snatched the bags out of my hands and Edward grabbed me, lifting me up and swinging me around wildly.

"I missed you, _sugar_! " he whooped loudly.

"You're drunk," I observed very astutely.

"Nah. I'm feelin' no pain. _They__'__re_ drunk," he indicated the table where Jasper was sprawled back in a chair with Alice all over him. If they had been naked we'd be watching a live porn show.

Rosalie was sitting next to them, arms folded over her chest and a devious smirk on her face. That was Rosie's drunk tell. That and the fact that she wasn't tipping Jasper and Alice backward off their chair. She was a mellow, happy drunk for the most part.

At the kitchen counter, Emmett was tearing into the bags and boxes of leftovers I brought like a rabid badger. I was having flashbacks to college life.

"It's a good thing you guys came all the way to Seattle. You can't sit around and get drunk just anywhere," I deadpanned.

Alice flipped me off without breaking lip contact with Jasper.

"Your boy is funny when he's had a few," Rosalie told me.

"And your girl is a card shark," Edward informed me. He set me down, but he was walking behind me with his arms wrapped around my waist and his head on my shoulder. "You smell amazing."

"That's the food, man," Emmett interrupted with his mouth full. "Get your ass over here and taste this shit."

"What have I told you about calling my food shit?" I demanded.

"You know I love your food," Emmett blew me off. And it's true. Emmett was the one who was constantly asking me to cook for him when were teenagers, volunteering to do the dishes if I would. There were periods of sibling discord when food was the only thing we could talk about civilly. He encouraged me to go to culinary school and talked often about being an investor when I was ready to start my own restaurant.

Edward and Rosalie joined Emmett at the counter and they dug in like they'd been on a three day fast. Eventually, even Jasper and Alice came up for air, fearing there would be nothing left for them if they didn't claim their share.

After tasting everything as I worked all night, I wasn't the least bit hungry, so I just sat and visited while they stuffed their faces.

I gestured at a huge new vibrant abstract painting hanging on the wall behind the sofa that I had noticed when I came in.

"Wow! That's kind of cool. Where did you two find it?" I asked Alice and Rose.

Rose snorted loudly and rolled her eyes while Alice giggled.

"We didn't find it. Jasper and I made it this afternoon."

"Oh, that's the painting you were talking about!" I said, going closer to look it over thoroughly. It was really unusual with splashes of color beginning in several places and then working toward each other until they mixed and blended slightly off center in a…oh. My. God.

"Is that an _ass_ print?" I demanded, pointing at one spot on the canvas.

Alice started giggling harder. "Maybe," she conceded, coming closer to inspect the spot. "Yep. I think that's mine."

"Mary Alice Brandon! What did you do?" I demanded. This was off the wall even for her.

"Um, covered myself in paint and made love to my boyfriend on a canvas?" she asked teasingly. She wasn't the least bit embarrassed.

Not for the first time, I envied Alice her confidence with her sexuality and her relationship with Jasper particularly. But still—a sex painting?

"I don't think I can hang out here with that thing staring me in the face," I told her, eyeing it critically.

"Don't worry, I already told her she has to move it into her room tomorrow," Rose assured me. "If you look really closely, you can see other _impressions_ in the paint and that's just tacky in the living room."

I involuntarily glanced at Jasper who was sitting at the dining table talking to Edward. Apparently he knew what we were talking about, though, because he just grinned at me bigger than ever. I vowed never to look too closely at that painting again.

Emmett threw his arm around my shoulder and turned me away from the painting.

"It's better not to look at it too long," he assured me. "So…your boyfriend is pretty cool, I guess."

"He's not my—" I started, but then I caught Edward's eye across the room, his eyes were on me and his face lit up when he saw I was looking at him. "Yes. I guess he is."


	11. Chapter 11 Swate Tay, Plays

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter Eleven**

**Swate Tay, Plays**

**Edward's POV Saturday morning**

I didn't drink so much Friday night that I didn't remember everything. Like going home with Bella and spooning up in her bed. I remember thinking how good she felt in my arms, up against my body and what I wanted to do with her, but that's where I must have fallen asleep. Drinking like that after crossing three time zones, enduring a six hour flight and engaging in some energetic Bella sex in the afternoon was probably not my brightest idea. The drinking I mean, the rest of it was genius.

The sound of my cell phone twittering obnoxiously from somewhere nearby woke me up. Squinting against the light and the dozens of tiny daggers trying to poke my eyes out, I felt around on the floor for my discarded jeans and fished the thing out of my pocket.

"H'lo?" I mumbled.

"Lightweight," Jasper laughed. "Get your ass up, we're coming to pick you up for lunch."

"Ugh," I said, trying to run my hand through my hair and getting it stuck halfway. "Not hungry. No. Shower."

"Fine. Shower, then come to lunch. You don't have to eat if you don't want to, but Emmett's going to know what a wuss you are," he threatened.

"Are you peer pressuring me? Aren't we past that yet?"

"Apparently not, because you're coming to lunch, right?"

"Yeah," I sighed. "Give me half an hour." And I knew I would force myself to eat no matter how my stomach protested, because I don't want Emmett to think I'm some sort of _mama__'__s__boy_lightweight.

It felt a little odd to be in Bella's apartment without her. When her alarm went off at five this morning, I woke up, sprawled on my back, with her clinging to me, one arm over my chest and one leg hooked over mine. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her back down to me after she reached over and smacked the clock.

"Too early," I protested.

"I know, believe me," she murmured and lay still for just a moment more before pushing herself up with a sigh."I have to go to work. I'll be back around one or so…for a few hours."

"You work too much," I sighed, really wanting to keep her right where she was.

She got up with an even bigger sigh. "So I've heard," she said wryly. Something in the tone of her voice made me open my eyes, but she was already walking away to get in the shower. The view was fantastic. Last night she had stripped down to a pair of tiny little bikini cut panties in pale pink and the fitted white t-shirt she'd been wearing under a sweater before crawling into bed.

"How do you cook the way you do and have a body like _that_?" I asked, propping up on one elbow to watch her as long as possible.

Bella laughed self-consciously, but when she turned to look at me over her shoulder, her smile was sweet and appreciative. "I only get to eat a bite at a time here and there and I work it off in between, I guess," she shrugged. "And thank you, by the way."

She went into the bathroom, but left the door open so I could see her in the mirror as she brushed her hair and pulled it into a ponytail. I toyed with the idea of trying to coax her back to bed, but I knew if I did, I would definitely make her late. I told myself to have some patience and make it good for both of us later when there was time.

I laid back in the bed, propping my head on my arm bent behind me. Something had shifted last night. When she had been staring, horrified, at Jasper and Alice's painting, I was watching her. Her whole demeanor was different when she was interacting with her brother or Alice or Rosalie or even Jasper. There was an ease and a confidence in her that disappeared when she was talking to me.

With me, I felt like she was always on the defensive, analyzing my motives and actions. While I was glad that so far she seemed to be satisfied with her findings, I was hoping to get to a point where she didn't feel the need to protect herself so much. It may sound egotistical, but I couldn't remember ever working this hard to win a woman over. It was exhilarating, but it was also exhausting.

This is what I was thinking when I saw Emmett gesture at me and suddenly Bella's gaze was focused intently on me and when she found me looking at her, her face relaxed into a brilliant smile and there it was. There was some kind of shift in her attitude toward me like something had been settled.

I must've drifted back to sleep with that thought because the next thing I knew Jasper was calling to let me know I was going to lunch with him and Emmett.

I hauled myself out of Bella's comfy bed and got in the shower. By the time I got out, I felt like a new man. A new man with a vague headache and a queasy stomach. I've never been much of a drinker. I'll have a couple of cocktails with dinner or a few beers out at a club, but I don't cut loose and have fun when I get truly drunk. I tend to get belligerent and then spend the next day wishing for a quick and painless death.

Last night I had successfully skirted that edge, drinking enough to get a good buzz going and enjoy myself, but not so much that I got sarcastic and irritable.

To my surprise, I had the most fun with Rosalie. She let her guard down a bit and then a bit more as she kept slamming the mixed drinks Emmett was concocting for her. Eventually I got up the courage to ask her something I had been wondering about since the morning I met her.

"_So what did you mean when you said Bella could have slept naked on top of me that first night and nothing would've happened?"_

"_Wha? When d'I say that?" she slurred slightly and smiled as she heard it._

"_The morning after you guys got to Hilton Head, remember? Emmett was getting wound up about whether Bella and I slept in my bed together and you said she could have slept naked on top of me and nothing would have happened."_

_She enunciated a little too carefully for a sober person this time. "I did? I don't remember that, but I was right. Or I would've bet I was right, anyway. But I don't know now. You? You are a tricky little fucker."_

_I laughed in surprise. Who knew the super model had such a mouth on her?_

"_How am I tricky?"_

"_Oh, you've gotten around her." She made a gesture that somehow looked like a snake weaving around. "All her rules and hatred of any kind of change. Before, Bella would have taken a couple weeks of merci-merca-mersless-crap! There goes my tongue-brain coordination. Anyway, she would have beat the question in the ground before she decided whether she even wanted to go out on a first date with someone. Impulsive she ain't."_

"_Hmm," I answered, trying to suppress a grin._

_Rosalie glanced slyly at Emmett to make sure he was otherwise engaged in conversation and not paying attention to us._

"'_Hmm', what, you sneaky little bastard?" she grinned at me to soften the name-calling. "Did she give it up to you the first night? Cause you must be some kind of evil genius sex hypnotist to make her do that."_

"_No! No of course she didn't. There was just instant chemistry there. It made things a little uncomfortable and that's why she left my room in the middle of the night."_

_She sat back in her chair, folding her arms across her chest. "Try that on Emmett. He'll believe you because he wants to. I think you're full of shit. But anyway, Bella already told us she fooled around with you the second night, and that's a miracle all by itself. Nevermind anything else."_

"_Just call me The Miracle Worker," I shrugged._

"_For your next trick, make Sam disappear, 'kay?" She waved one manicured hand as if she was batting away a fly._

I knew I needed to ask Bella for the rest of the story on Sam, but how do you ask something like that? And when? It took every bit of my self-control not to pump her friends for the story, but I really believed it was Bella's story to finish when she was ready.

When Jasper and Emmett and I walked into the restaurant for lunch, the hostess and a waitress who was standing there talking to her, both stared at us open-mouthed for a moment before they said anything.

"Three for lunch, please," Jasper said politely. "A booth if you've got it."

"Oh my god! That's _so_ cute! Where are you from?" the hostess demanded. "Alabama, right? I'm usually great at guessing accents!"

He answered her babbling as shortly as possible as she led us to a booth.

Jasper was getting sick of people commenting on his accent. And in his defense, it is very frustrating to be talking to someone and suddenly realize they are staring at you with a silly grin and not listening to a word you say, just waiting for you to shut up so they can comment on your accent.

So Jasper had started messing with people who did that by making it much more pronounced than usual. And he could do a low country, backwoods hick accent with the best of them. When he saw the hostess returning, he flashed me a shit-eating grin and turned his full attention on her.

"Tara will be your server and she'll be with you in a second. Can I get you guys a drink to start you off?" she asked, trying hard to seem casual and relaxed.

Emmett ordered a beer, but I just ordered some water. I was still feeling a little off from over-indulging the night before.

"Sweet tea, please," Jasper said politely, when she turned to him. Only with his thick, put-on accent it came out more like 'swate tay, plays'.

She looked at Jasper, her head cocked to the side, like if she concentrated hard enough the meaning of Jasper's words would come to her. She gave up and glanced at Emmett, who shrugged, and then at me.

Holding back my laughter, I translated, "He said 'sweet tea'. You know, sweetened iced tea."

"Oh. Oh! Well, it's all unsweetened, but there's sugar and sweeteners on the table," she pointed out.

"Maybe just a coke," Jasper decided.

"All right, I'll be right back with your drinks," she said, walking away quickly.

"Wait, I—" Jasper tried to catch her but the din of the restaurant drown him out. "She didn't ask me what kind of coke I want."

"What do you mean? Like Cherry Coke or something?" Emmett asked.

"No, I wanted a Dr. Pepper," Jasper said.

"Well, why didn't you—you know what? Nevermind. _Y__'__all_need to learn to speak English!" he said, shaking his head in disgusted amusement.

Lunch was good and Emmett only threatened me regarding Bella once, in a joking sort of way. I hope. But he also mentioned something that set my blood pounding in my veins.

"So Edward, I know you're a big fan of T.K. Francke, right?" he asked out of the blue.

"Oh yeah," Jasper rolled his eyes. "It's creepy, hero-worship-level fandom, man."

"Well, I didn't want to say anything last night, because I didn't know if it would work out, but I've worked with his company a few times. I called his office last week and he got back to me this morning. He said he'd be happy to meet with you on Monday if you're interested in interviewing."

It took me a minute to decipher what he'd said. "Interveiw? Like for a job with T.K. Francke?"

"Yep. He's looking to bring on another architect with a strong residential design background," Emmett shrugged as if this were no big deal.

I couldn't form the words I wanted to say. I had never entertained the idea of applying with Francke & Associates. They were out of my league. And based in Seattle. And I had never had any reason to entertain the idea of moving to Seattle. But now…

"I think he's in shock," Jasper said with mock concern, "but I think that's a go on the interview."

Emmett laughed and pulled a card out of his wallet to hand me. "Call and confirm the time and email him your resume at that address."

"He called you today? It's Saturday," I pointed out.

"Yeah, couple things you should probably know about Tom: He's a classic work-aholic, an insomniac, and he has a really strange, dry sense of humor. If you do go to work for him, don't plan to see the light of day anytime soon."

"Thanks," I said, my head still trying to wrap itself around this new development.

When I got back to Bella's apartment she was already there, in the shower. Now there was time. The nerves and adrenaline from contemplating meeting T.K. (Tom to his friends, apparently) Francke and _interviewing_ with him, made me even bolder than I would have been otherwise.

I quickly stripped and knocked lightly on the bathroom door, not wanting to scare Bella to death.

"Um, I'm in the shower!" she called. There was a beat and she giggled, "Come on in."

That was all I needed to hear and I was in and stepping into the shower with her.

"Hi," she said shyly, her eyes much bolder than her words as they raked over my naked body. "I missed you."

"Well, that's the best news I've heard all day, sugar. And trust me, that's saying a lot today." I stepped closer, reaching around her to grab the body wash on the shower ledge. Bella leaned forward to kiss me, thinking I was going to wrap my arms around her. When I drew back and held up the body wash, she gave me a playful dirty look.

I poured a little in my palm and went to work lathering the fruity-scented soap over her, starting with her neck and shoulders and gradually working my way down.

"So…wh-what did you do today?" she asked, trying to stay calm as I carefully and thoroughly soaped her full and fully aroused breasts.

"I went to lunch with Jasper and Emmett. That's about all," I said. I don't know why I didn't tell her about the interview then, but I didn't. "What about you?"

She leaned into my hands, her eyelids fluttering, her breathing getting faster and more erratic. I moved one hand around her slick, wet body, to cup her beautiful little ass and pull her up against me. My cock was hard and pulsing for her and I wanted her to know it.

"Work," she panted out with a dismissive shrug.

Apparently that was all she had to say about it. She pushed me back against the wall and kissed me ferociously, hungrily. In one of the most erotic moves I had ever seen, she leaned back and broke the kiss, running her hands over her body, gathering the suds in her hands until she came to her breasts, scooping gently around them and tugging at her nipples as she pulled away.

She took the suds and began to work over my body the same way I had been doing to her, until she slid to her knees, letting her hands follow. In the same movement her hands wrapped around the base of my cock and her mouth closed over the head and she began to suck and move gradually lower and faster.

The back of my head hit the shower wall with a dull thud and I brought it up and hit it again several times just to take my focus off what she was doing to me. Because, if I let myself focus on Bella, naked and soapy and in charge, giving me head in the shower, I would be done in 30 seconds or less.

As it was I made it about two and a half minutes. She wrapped her arms around my hips and grabbed my ass, moaning as she continued to suck and slide over me with her hot little mouth and I was done for.

"Bella, honey, oh god! I'm—" I couldn't finish the sentence, but she knew and pulled off me, standing to mold her body to mine and finish the job with her hand.

She watched me intently as I came, her eyes wide and burning with lust. I didn't know what the hell had brought this new assertiveness on, but I wasn't about to complain or ask too many questions.

I pulled her back under the shower spray and got us both thoroughly cleaned up before turning off the taps and grabbing a couple of towels. As soon as she was wrapped up, I swept her up in my arms and carried her into her room where I tossed her on the bed. I dropped my own towel and climbed on the bed beside her.

"We're getting the covers all wet," she sighed, not seeming too distraught.

I darted my hand between her legs, shocking her and making her squeal. "You more than me," I accused, holding up my glistening fingers and licking them deliberately.

"Taste me," she whimpered, so low it was almost a whisper.

"What?"

"Taste me!" she said a little louder and more demanding.

"Sugar, I heard you the first time," I told her wickedly, positioning myself between her legs with her knees bent over my shoulders. "I just like to hear you say it."

She began to protest, but I dipped my face to her warm, wet center and captured her swollen clit in my teeth, before lavishing it with firm, quick strokes of my tongue.

Quickly, she began to moan and cry out, her arms flung above her head. The louder she got, the more she arched into my face, the harder and faster I worked to get her off. When she came it was powerful and she didn't try to muffle her cries.

Afterward, she pulled me to her and held onto me hard, trembling against me.

"Bella," I whispered against her temple, trying to soothe her with soft, slow strokes down her back, "can you tell me what's going on with you?"

She sighed and wiggled closer still. After a moment, she said, "Bruce was back today and I suddenly realized they didn't really need me there tonight. So I just…"

"Just…" I prompted when she didn't start again.

"Just told Bruce I was taking tonight, and tomorrow, off," she laughed and then stopped abruptly waiting for my response.

"And you're off Monday and Tuesday, right?" She nodded against my shoulder. "Um, am I missing something? Isn't this good news?"

"Yes. Of course, yes," she said like she was trying to convince herself. She curved her arm behind her head so she could look into my face better. "It's good Edward. It's just new for me. I never take time off, especially since I just got back from vacation."

"A month ago and I believe that was your first vacation in four years," I pointed out.

"Still. But it felt good! I don't know what the hell is happening to me, but it felt so damn good! I couldn't wait to get back here and when you weren't here, I was disappointed. And then there you were in the shower with me… I'm just, god, I'm happy you're here. And I'm happy we're together for as long as we have… I'm just happy."

I pushed up on one elbow, tracing her cheek with my fingers. "So am I," I told her. "Thank you for taking the extra time off to be with me, sweet girl."

"I can think of another way you can thank me," she said boldly, rocking her hips against me.

"Don't tell me," I commanded, moving over her and positioning myself between her legs once again. "Let me guess."

We made love for the better part of the afternoon, napping in between and only finally getting up when we were too hungry to ignore it anymore. We ordered in Chinese food and ate at her coffee table while we watched TV.

Alice called at eight to ask if I wanted to go out to a club with everyone while I was waiting for Bella to get off work.

"Bella took the night off. She's right here, Alice, let me see if she wants to go." I held the phone away from my ear as she squawked on the other end. I hurriedly shoved the phone at Bella and listened as she tried to explain to Alice and finally gave up.

"Alice! …Alice, stop! …Stop right now and we'll come out with you. Otherwise, we'll see you on Tuesday…Well good…We'll see you out there at ten." She rolled her eyes, but she was grinning.

The club was loud and hot and crowded which I didn't mind at all as it gave me a reason to stick close to Bella and keep a protective arm around her.

We found Alice and Jasper and Emmett and Rosalie at a large booth in the corner and joined them.

"Ladies and gentlemen: I give you the new and improved Bella Swan who can take a night off work now and then and have orgasms way more than now and then!" Rosalie shouted, clearly well into round three of drinks. Emmett grimaced and pretended he hadn't heard that.

"Rose!" Bella warned.

"Sorry. We're still not allowed to talk about orgasms even though you're having a bunch?"

"Edward, do you want to dance?" Bella asked desperately, pulling me toward the dance floor before I could answer.

We danced awkwardly for a minute, knowing we had an avid audience, but as we moved into the crowd and let our bodies take over for our minds, we actually got quite good. I couldn't stop my hands trailing her sides, running through her hair, resting on her hips, but she didn't seem to mind.

"Think it's safe to get a drink and go back to the table to cool down?" she asked when the fourth song began.

"You go get a seat at the table, I'll bring the drinks," I yelled to be heard over the music.

She nodded and kissed me hard before letting me go. I stood at the bar contemplating everything that had happened the whole day and wondering how I got so goddamned lucky. God knew what tomorrow would bring, but tonight was unbelievably good.

I came back to the table with our drinks only to find a tall, heavily-muscled, black-haired man leaning over Bella as she sat at the table with her arms crossed over her chest. She was avoiding eye contact with the guy and the expression on her face looked both embarrassed and angry.

"…what the hell you're doing! What I saw out there is not you, Bella!" the guy was yelling when I got close enough to hear him, pounding the table with his fist.

Bella jumped slightly, but then looked up at him with something akin to hatred. "I don't need your opinion on my behavior. I need you to stay away from me. Can you not understand that?" she demanded angrily.

I had a fair idea who the jerk was, but I didn't want to overstep so I tried to force my voice to remain neutral. "What's going on here?" I asked casually. "I got our drinks."

I handed Bella her drink, managing to insinuate myself between her and her unwelcome visitor.

"Nothing," Bella said. "He was just leaving."

"The hell I am! Bella, I'm going to take you home. We need to talk."

'Hey! She isn't going anywhere with you if she doesn't want to," I said, struggling to maintain my temper.

"This is none of your business, _friend_," the guy snarled at me.

Before I could beg to differ, Bella stood up and interjected. "Actually it's more his business than yours. Sam, this is Edward, we're—we've been seeing each other for over a month. Edward, this is Sam who has no business coming anywhere near me."

"So you're her boyfriend? Well, that's a little better, I guess. At least she wasn't acting like a low-rent whore with some random asshole in a club!" Sam spat out, but he was glaring at Bella, ignoring me. He had taken another step toward her and I put my hand on his chest to back him up.

"Easy there, _friend_. If you talk about my girlfriend like that again, I'll make you regret it," I growled. I could feel my anger spiraling out of control, but I reminded myself that I needed to hold it together for Bella.

Sam laughed, a bitter choked off sound, almost like a bark. His focus was all on me, now. "You don't know anything about regret, asshole. Nothing you could do could make me feel more regret than I already do."

"Sam, goddamnit, give it a rest!" Bella all but yelled, surprising us both. "If you're sorry, the best thing—the only thing—you can do to make it better, is leave. Me. Alone! If you see me out somewhere, walk the other way. Don't let yourself in my apartment because you're 'worried about me'—"

"Whoa! _What_?" I interrupted, but she was on a roll.

"Just stay away from me. I'm fine, I've moved on and I'm happier now than I have ever been, except when you come near me!"

"Obviously! You're practically fucking this guy on the dance floor—"

"I warned you," I said, just before my fist connected with his jaw and he stumbled backward into the crowd.

He threw himself back at me before he fully had his balance so it was easy to dodge him and let his momentum carry him into the table behind us, sending the people sitting there scurrying and spilling their drinks.

He stood and charged me again, getting his feet under him steady first. He landed a solid punch to my gut and knocked the wind out of me. But I still ducked when he went for my face and came back at him, catching his temple with a right hook.

Just as he was rearing back to take another swing at me, one of the club's bouncers grabbed him, snaking his enormous arms under Sam's and then locking his hands behind Sam's neck, effectively rendering his arms useless.

The people from the table Sam had crashed into were all clamoring to tell the bouncer Sam had been the aggressor and I merely sidestepped him. I guess they missed the initial swing, but I wasn't about to correct them as we watched him being escorted out the door.

The rest of our group had caught the tail end of the scuffle and came running, checking to make sure Bella was okay and congratulating me.

"I can't believe you got to hit him," Emmett groused. "Do you have any idea how much I've been wanting to hit that mother fucker?"

I apologized to the group still gathered around us and insisted on buying them a fresh round of drinks. Maybe partially to avoid looking Bella in the eye and finding out what her reaction was going to be, but eventually I had to do just that.


	12. Chapter 12 Ex Communication

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter Twelve**

**Ex Communication**

**Bella's POV**

This morning I was executive sous chef Bella Swan, who works like a dog and loves it. It wasn't easy leaving warm, half-naked Edward Cullen in my bed at five-thirty, but I did it because I had to be at work on time.

Only, for the first time, I began to wonder why I drove myself so hard. At the fresh market I found my mind wandering and myself getting irritable when my reveries were interrupted with questions the supply manager could easily have answered.

Back at the restaurant, we were in the middle of checking in the delivery trucks when Bruce Tyler came through the swinging doors into the kitchen, filling the space with his presence.

I love working for Bruce and I like him tremendously as a person, but I have to say sometimes he's exhausting. The whole energy of the kitchen changes when Bruce walks in the door; it becomes more exciting, yes, but also more frenetic and stressful.

Normally, I would easily adjust to and even welcome the change Bruce brought, but today I was almost sorry to see him. And it occurred to me, if he's here, they don't really need me. In his absence, I assumed the leadership of the kitchen, but when he was present I stepped back to assist, and several others, including James, who were scheduled, could do that just as well.

Those thoughts kept circling and circling in my mind as I worked. When we finished up and I was getting ready to leave, Bruce called, "See you tonight, Belladonna!"

I stopped and turned at the door. "Actually, Chef, I have company in town this week. I'd like to take tonight and tomorrow off." What did I just say? It just popped out without me consciously deciding to say it.

The kitchen got weirdly quiet for just a moment before everyone else went back to what they were doing. James, who had been standing at the sink next to the door scrubbing his hands, shot me a kind of nasty smirk, but I didn't have the time or interest to figure out what his problem was.

Bruce came out from behind the pass and followed me into the dining room. "So what's this about company? Is your family visiting?"

I considered lying, but why should I? "No, it's a man I met when I went to South Carolina last month."

"A long distance relationship, huh? Always a great idea!" he said sarcastically, his bright blue eyes twinkling.

Bruce Tyler is a good-looking man in his early 40s and I'll admit when I first met him I had a slight crush on him, but as I said, he is sometimes exhausting to be around. Between that, his terrible track record with women, and the fact that he was my boss and mentor, the crush quickly faded into friendship.

Now I just rolled my eyes. I was used to his caustic sense of humor and didn't take it personally.

"You know what, Swan? Do it. Take the time off," he said, grabbing my shoulder roughly, his expression suddenly serious and uncomfortable-looking.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Look, the restaurant, and by 'the restaurant' I mean me, but most places would be the same, it'll take everything you're willing to give and push for more. It's never-ending work and the only way you're going to have a life is if you set some limits. Up until now you haven't even attempted to do that."

"I never had a reason to," I shrugged. "I love my work."

"Swan, please. Like your work, love the people in your life. Take it from a man who loves his work and is on his third marriage. Get the hell out of here and you better be ready to work your ass off on Wednesday."

So this morning I was executive sous chef Bella Swan, who works like a dog and loves it. This afternoon I was Bella, the woman doing dirty, dirty things to Edward in my shower and my bed while he called me sugar. And tonight I'm the reason for a bar fight between Edward and my ex.

I should be mad, right? Or at least mortified at a fight breaking out over me. I'm not helpless and I'm not sixteen. I don't find that kind of thing sweet and romantic. Right? So why do I want to drag Edward out of here and directly back to my apartment to thank him properly for beating the stuffing out of Sam?

As I watched him, he instantly reverted to laid-back Southern gentleman, buying a round of drinks for the people whose table Sam crashed into, asking one of the women in the party to send him the dry cleaning bill for her dress that got splashed with a rum and Coke.

"Oh, don't be silly, this dress isn't any big deal," the pretty blonde waved him off, but I noticed she couldn't stop staring at him.

"Well, you make it look like a big deal," Edward bantered. "Your date is a very lucky man." He held out his hand to the man that was obviously with the blonde and they shook. The woman took the hint and turned her attention back to the man she came with.

Edward is smooth, I have to give him , I want to give him a lot more than that…

"You're turned on by that fight!" Alice hissed in my ear.

I instantly blushed hard and cursed myself for it. "I am not!"

"You are! You ought to see the way you're looking at him, you shameless hussy!" she was giggling now.

"Shut up, Alice, please," I begged.

She pulled me off a little more to the side so no one would overhear us. "I'm sorry, Bells, I've just never seen you like this and I like it. I think you like it, too."

"It's just so new. I don't know how to handle how intense this has gotten so fast, but I'm trying," I admitted, seeing as Alice was being serious for once. "Can I ask you? Am I just seeing what I want to see because I like him so much, or is he really that amazing?"

Jasper grabbed her from behind at that moment and rested his chin on the top of her head. "I feel I have to put a word in for Edward here. He had to have a good reason to do that, or he wouldn't have. Don't be too mad."

"He did," I said, just as Alice looked up at him and said, "She's not mad."

For a heart-stopping moment I thought she was going to expand on that statement, but she didn't

"Oh. Well, good then. Uh, do you think you could go tell him that? Cause he thinks you're plotting how to drug his sorry ass and throw him on a plane back home."

"He does?" I looked around for Edward. "Last I saw he was charming the pants off the people at the next table. He didn't look too worried to me."

Jasper broke into a wide smile and Alice nearly melted, looking up at him. I was struck by their contrasts. Jasper is tall and lanky with blonde hair and bright blue eyes and he's the epitome of calm, cool and collected. Alice is short, curvy in all the right places with black hair and golden brown eyes and she powers through life making things happen instead of waiting for things to happen. On paper they shouldn't work, but in reality, I had never seen a couple more right for one another. It was not so much a matter of opposites attracting, as that their differences provided something the other was missing.

"There's no flies on that boy," Jasper said enigmatically. "But trust me, he's sweating it out."

"I'm going to guess that means I should go talk to him?" I asked, grinning.

He nodded with a smirk and led Alice back out to the dance floor.

"Bella!" Alice called, looking back at me before they blended into the crowd, "I don't think you're just seeing what you want to see."

Edward was standing at our table talking to Rosalie and Emmett who were sitting together on one side. When I walked up beside him and slid my arm around his waist, his arm automatically curved back and came around my shoulders, but he looked down at me in surprise.

"Hey!" he said and the relief in his voice couldn't have been more obvious.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked, taking his right hand and looking at his raw knuckles.

"Fine. How about you?"

Before I could answer, Emmett cut in. "What was Sam saying to you?" he demanded. "Edward doesn't want to say, but I want to know if I need to have a little talk with him to be sure it won't happen again."

Rosalie smiled and patted his leg comfortingly, "Edward already had a little 'talk' with him, babe. You're just mad you missed out on the conversation."

"Emmett, just let it go. I'll talk to Sam and put an end to this mess once and for all, but you getting involved isn't going to help," I told him . I felt Edward tense up beside me but he didn't say anything.

"Fine, but just tell me what he said that made Edward swing on him. I swear I won't do anything," Emmett lied unconvincingly.

I rolled my eyes at him and caught Rose doing the same thing. Emmett had been craving an opportunity to beat on Sam for months, but the extra fuel of alcohol and missing out on a chance, had him positively itching for the fight. If I told him what Sam said now, he'd be halfway to Sam and Emily's house before we could stop him.

"Nothing to worry about, Em." I looked up at Edward. "Do you want to dance?"

"Hell yeah, I do," he said with a big, goofy grin.

Out on the floor, we picked up where we left off, our bodies moving together, the contact of his hands on my hips sending a thrum of electricity through me. I let myself just relax into the pulsing beat of the music and the feel and smell and heat of Edward all around me. The lyrics of the song wove their way into my subconscious and I had to laugh. _So__call__me__your__sugar,__so__call__me__your__sugar__…_

Edward turned me so my back was to his chest as we moved together so he could talk in my ear without having to yell over the music.

"What's funny?" he asked, leaning down to my ear and making me shiver.

"Listen to the song," I told him.

He listened for a moment and I felt his smile against my neck just before he kissed right below my ear. "Should I stick with calling you sugar? Or should I start calling you candy?"

"Sugar please," I sighed. Seriously, he never needed to know the extent of the effect it had on me when he called me sugar. That would be dangerous.

"So we're okay, _sugar_?" he asked. If it's possible to smirk with your voice, then that's what he did.

I turned my head and wound my hand up to cup the side of his face and pull his head down to me. I swear I meant to say something, but then his lips were right there and mine were drawn to them like magnets.

What the hell was happening to me? I don't skip out on work to party with my new boyfriend, I don't enjoy bar fights, and I don't publicly engage in make-out sessions. Except that apparently now I do all three. And I honestly can't bring myself to regret it. I have a nagging fear that I might someday, but that's not enough to make giving in to Edward now not worthwhile.

The make-out session on the dance floor was getting beyond inappropriate and dangerously close to obscene. I pulled away only to be met with those mesmerizing green eyes, dark with lust and intent.

"Let's go home," I breathed and then corrected myself. "My place I mean. Okay?"

He grabbed my hand and lead me through the crowd in a beeline for the door. Once outside he flipped open his cell phone and called Jasper.

"I'm taking Bella home. Let Emmett and Rosalie and Alice know," he said. "None of your business…Yes, as a matter of fact…You might want to think twice on that, son…Right, see you tomorrow."

"What was that all about?" I asked as we walked quickly toward my car.

"Jasper was threatening to tell you embarrassing childhood stories about me so I don't start thinking I'm a badass. I was reminding him of the theory of mutually assured destruction: _He_ starts talking, _I_start talking," Edward laughed.

We had arrived at my car and Edward opened the driver's side door for me. I took a deep breath and handed him my keys. "Would you like to drive?"

"Seriously? You trust me with your car?" he asked, excited like a little boy.

"So far I've trusted you with my body, my honor, my…my heart. This," I rushed on, tapping on the roof, "is just a car. A great car, but still just a car." Maybe I was warning him a little, asking him not to make me sorry I trusted him with any of it.

Edward grabbed me roughly and pushed me up against the back door, kissing me hungrily. His hands were in my hair, one knee between my legs as I clung to his shoulders. Moving his lips from my mouth to my neck and shoulder and ear, he began to murmur, "So glad you're not angry, I couldn't stand hearing him talk about you like that. I hate that guy, hate that he ever touched you like this."

"Never like this, Edward," I told him sincerely. And it was true, even if it sounded a bit cheesy. I had had good sex before, but I had never experienced anything like the level of chemistry I felt with Edward or the actual feeling of being with him.

Maybe that was part of what made me doubt my feelings for him; fear that they were clouded by the extreme physical connection. But then, I had to remind myself, he had let me meet his family, he had flown across the country to see me, he was proving to be someone extraordinary over and over, and now he had defended me when Sam was trying to humiliate me.

From across the parking lot a group of guys started whistling and yelling encouragement to Edward. He ignored them, but his hands and mouth stilled against me and I buried my face in his shoulder.

"Sorry. We need to get to your apartment," he said as if it was a trek up an almost insurmountable mountain.

"Concentrate on the car," I suggested playfully. "It's fun to drive."

Fortunately and unfortunately, I don't live far from the club so he didn't get to really open up the Volvo, but he enjoyed the mile or so drive anyway.

"I think I'd like to hear some of those childhood stories about you," I told him as he wheeled out of the parking lot and accelerated smoothly into traffic.

"Someday. I'm not really in a childhood story mood tonight, are you?" he asked, glancing over at me with a wickedly raised eyebrow.

"I suppose not," I laughed quietly. "I don't know what kind of mood I'm in tonight. I've been all over the map all day."

I was looking out the window when I felt his warm hand on my thigh, rubbing gentle circles over my chilled skin. "I like everywhere you've gone with me."

"God, you are so slick, Edward. Do you know that? Do you practice this stuff in the mirror or does it just pop into your head? How do always have the perfect thing to say to make me forget to behave myself?" I teased, grinning widely. But I saw his smile falter and his hand stilled on my leg.

There was a tense quiet moment between us before he spoke again. "I guess it comes natural to me. I've always been able to think fast and talk faster. But I don't want you to think I'm insincere, Bella. I really like you," he smiled sweetly. "I mean like, I _like_like you."

"I _like_ like you, too, Edward. So much so that I'm throwing all my rules out the window, and believe me there are a lot of them, and I'm not even thinking about the fact that you live more than 2000 miles away and you're going home on Wednesday," I sighed.

"I'm not thinking about that either," he said, and suddenly his hand was moving again, working gradually up my leg to dangerous territory. "What if I didn't live so far away? What if I lived here in Seattle?"

My brain was busy with the sensation his hand was creating and imagining what was going happen when we got to my apartment. It took a couple beats to register what he asked me in that deep, smooth voice.

"What if you…what? What are you saying?" I asked, stumbling over my words.

"Relax, it was just a random thought. I'm job hunting, you know, and you never know," he shrugged.

We were just pulling into the parking garage of my building. Edward parked and turned to look at me.

"Don't look so scared, Bella. I was just thinking out loud. I'm not going to become a stalker or anything," he said, stroking my cheek with his thumb.

"What? No, Edward, that's not was I thinking. You just surprised me. It would be great if you moved here, but…could you really leave your family and everything to move this far away?" I asked. It had never occurred to me that he would even consider moving to Seattle.

"I honestly don't know. But it's something to consider. Come on, let's go upstairs."

We went into the building and caught the elevator just as a well-dressed couple was stepping out so that we had the car to ourselves. As soon as the door closed, Edward pushed me against the back wall, his hands on either side of my head, lowering his mouth quickly to mine, he kissed me hard.

"Elevators make me hot," he told me when we took a breath. "_You_ in an elevator make me insane."

"Go crazy then, just remember there's a security camera right there," I pointed up, making him laugh.

The ding sounded and the doors slid open. Edward grabbed me and lifted me up leaving me no choice other than to wrap my arms and legs around him and hang on. I squealed and buried my face in his neck, kissing and licking the salty skin there.

I heard and felt the vibrations of Edward's growl of pleasure which was quickly replaced by one of anger.

"What the _fuck_ are you doing here?" he demanded, letting me slide to my feet, but keeping one arm around my waist. I turned to see who he was talking to and groaned in frustration.

"Sam, dammit! Go home! What is wrong with you?" I demanded.

"I don't know. That's the problem." Sam stood leaning against the wall beside my apartment door, shifting on his feet edgily. "I'm not here to fight or cause a problem. I just couldn't leave things like that. I had to apologize."

"A card or flowers would've sufficed," Edward said caustically.

"Man, I don't blame you for being pissed, but I need to talk to her. Just talk, I swear. I won't say anything out of line again," Sam promised.

"You're damn right you won't—" Edward started, but I interrupted.

"No, we have to have this talk sooner or later. We might as well get it over with," I said. I put my hand on Edward's arm and turned my back on Sam so Edward and I could have a private, non-verbal conversation. He searched my eyes for a way out of letting this happen, but must not have found it.

"Fine, but how about we move this inside? You two can talk in the living room and I'll wait for you in the bedroom," he conceded, but he placed a special emphasis on the word bedroom and glared at Sam.

Sam raised his hands to show he wasn't going to protest or respond angrily. "Listen…"

"Edward," I supplied shortly.

"Listen, Edward, no matter what it looks like, I'm not trying to come between you or get Bella back. I'm just trying to make things right with her, because I did every single goddamned thing wrong. I'm sorry for what I said tonight. I wasn't expecting to see her with someone else, especially like…that."

"I don't really care what your reasons were. Just don't talk to her like that again. Ever," Edward returned shortly.

I unlocked the front door and let us in, not looking back to see what Sam's reaction was. Edward kissed me on the forehead and went into the bedroom without another glance in Sam's direction.

Sam took a seat on the couch with a tired sigh. He looked up at me guiltily from under his lashes.

"Why do you keep doing this?" I asked him. "Why can't you just leave me alone like I've asked you?"

"I don't know. I think because I never got a chance to explain what happened. I keep thinking of things I should have said and done and it's just eating me up."

"So what? You didn't break up with me, Sam. You cheated on me for months, got your girlfriend pregnant, married her and let _her_ tell me and humiliate me at my restaurant. You don't think you deserve to feel bad about that for a little while?" I demanded. In the back of my mind I knew Edward could probably hear me, but I didn't care. It was easier than having to explain again when this was finally over.

"No, I know I do, but you don't. I think you think I didn't care how much I hurt you. Or maybe like I just stopped caring about you at all once I met Emily. But it wasn't like that. I kept putting off telling you about Emily because I couldn't stand the thought of hurting you. It…it just all got out of hand when we found out she was pregnant. And we got married spur of the moment at the courthouse. It wasn't planned, it just sort of happened and then I really didn't know how to tell you everything." He stood up and began to pace, rubbing at the back of his neck anxiously in a familiar gesture.

"Then Emily found that birthday card you sent me and I had to tell her about you—"

"_What_? Emily didn't know about me either?" This was news. All this time I was thinking she was this hateful, selfish home wrecker. Turns out Sam had played us both.

Sam shook his head miserably. "Not until the day she came to your work. She almost left me. We're still trying to get past it. If it wasn't for the baby she would have…"

I sat down hard and just stared at him, with my hand over my mouth. "Sam, how could you do that? What _happened_ to you?" I felt my voice break and I hated myself for it.

"I don't know, Bells. I really don't. I loved you so much. You're still one of the best people I've ever met," he sat down a few inches from me and put his face in his hands. "I could see it all, you know? Our life together, our kids, all of it. And then I met Emily and it was like I couldn't help it. I tried, I swear, but I couldn't stay away from her."

"Oh, Sam, please. I get it. It happens and if you had come to and told me, it would have broken my heart, but I really believe we could have gotten past it eventually and been friends. Or at least I wouldn't have hated you."

"You hate me," he said, dropping his hands between his knees. "You have every right to hate me."

"I can't help it," I said, honestly. "Every time you try to talk to me you make it a little worse. You claim you didn't tell me because you couldn't stand to hurt me. I can't imagine your excuse for not telling Emily about me—and I don't want to hear it. But Sam, it all comes down to you wanting everything without sacrificing anything. It was selfish and cruel."

"I'm so sorry," he said with a choked sob.

For several long moments I struggled with the urge to forgive versus the urge to rub salt in the wounds.

"Sam. Sam?" I waited for him to look at me with red, watery eyes and noticed for the first time the bruising on his face. "What the hell were you even doing out at a club tonight?"

"My cousin's bachelor party. I didn't want to be there in the first place and then all of a sudden you were just there and that guy—"

"Alright, alright. Sam, you have to let this go now. Let me go and close this chapter. You have a wife and a baby on the way and you owe it to them and yourself to get past this and be a good man for them."

"I know," he nodded, staring at the floor.

"And…you owe it to me to leave me alone. Please," I said it quietly, but I tried to make it clear that I meant it.

"Is he a good guy?" Sam ignored my plea and jerked his head toward the bedroom door. "He's definitely protective over you."

"He's a very good guy."

"Are you in love with him?" he almost whispered.

"Sam. Go home. Good luck and have a good life, really. I think we've said everything that needed to be said."

He took the hint and stood, following me to the door. There was nothing left to say and I was grateful that he didn't try. He hugged me quick and too hard, and was halfway down the hall before I could shut the door.

I went straight to the bedroom and screamed involuntarily when Edward flung the door open just as I grabbed the door knob. I opened my mouth to apologize, explain, something, but before I could utter a word, his mouth was on mine, hot and insistent. I realized he was stripped down to just his jeans and my hands were free to roam over his finely muscled back and chest.

He quickly peeled my clothes off more forcefully than he had done to that point and he was starting to scare me a little.

"Are you angry?" I panted, breaking away from his mouth.

"With you? Hell, no, sugar! Am I being too rough?" he asked, slowing down his feverish pace, but continuing to palm my breast, brushing my already completely sensitized nipple.

"If you're not angry, then no," I assured him, helping him remove the last of my clothing until I stood naked in front of him.

Stepping out of his jeans without taking his eyes off of me, he grabbed me unexpectedly with a playful growl and tossed me on the bed, taking my breath away. He dove onto the bed after me, making me squeal and laugh.

"Sorry, sugar" he said with his low, growly sex voice. "I had too long to think about everything I want to do to you tonight."

"You weren't listening to _that_?" I asked, nodding toward the other room.

"Some, but that has nothing to do with us, except I'm glad he's the dumbest asshole in the Northwest." He lay alongside me, his body half covering mine, running his long, talented fingers up and down the center of my body, neck to breastbone, breastbone to stomach and back.

"Um, _sugar_, can we talk later?" With that he let his hand slide down my trembling stomach, past my belly button, dipping into the heat between my legs. I was beyond ready for him, but he was suddenly in no hurry, teasing me, sliding two fingers into me and then pulling back as I angled for more.

His eyes were intent on my face and I couldn't look away even if I wanted to. I knew what he was doing. He wanted to make me lose control and he wanted to see it. This was a new side of Edward. Up to this point he had been confident and incredibly generous in bed, but now he was establishing a claim, proving that he would and could fight for me, make me his. And once again I was learning something new about myself, because I liked it and before Edward I wouldn't have.

"Please," I moaned. And he listened, bringing me to the brink of orgasm repeatedly, only to back off until I was ready to cry or lock myself in the bathroom and finish the job myself.

But something kept me where I was, waiting for him to _let_ me cum. I was willing to let him have complete control and that was a new side of me.

Finally, I had to close my eyes, cover them with my hand as I moaned and thrashed against his hand, my legs moving relentlessly. I was startled when Edward's warm breath touched my ear. He murmured, "Such a good girl, sugar. So patient. Do you want to cum?"

"Yes!" I ground out in frustration, without uncovering my eyes.

"Testy!" he teased lazily.

He shifted on the bed suddenly, and I uncovered my eyes to find him sitting up against the headboard, easing a condom onto his erection which was almost comically waiting for me.

I sat up and crawled onto his lap, straddling him carefully, sliding down on him swiftly. I was past the foreplay portion of the evening and desperate to fuck. Edward sat up, wrapping his arms around my waist and rolling his hips up into me. I let out a hoarse kind of cry and wrapped my arms around his shoulders, almost crying with the pleasure of it.

We rocked and ground against each other, kissing hard and rough, biting at each other's lips. I moved to his neck and then his shoulder sucking and biting a little harder than playfully, but not enough to hurt him. Well, once I got a little too rough and he slapped my ass one quick time.

"On your hands and knees," he ordered and I did as I was told. When he slid back into me I was glad I listened. After the limited, controlled motions of the last half hour, this position was like sweet freedom. Edward held my hip as he took me with hard, steady strokes, both of us getting tired and sweaty, but unwilling to end this too soon.

Just the lightest touch, as his fingers found my clit, was enough to send me spiraling into my orgasm, crying and shaking with the pent-up power of it. I collapsed onto the bed, enjoying the feel of Edward's weight on me as he found his release and we lay, catching our breath.

"Uhn, you're starting to get heavy, honey," I finally had to say and he quickly moved off me, making both of us moan as he pulled out of me.

He sprawled on his back and pulled me close. He laughed suddenly. "You can't say it hasn't been an interesting day,"

I laughed, but didn't feel the need to answer.

"Bella? I did hear most of what you two said earlier," he confessed quietly. I waited, not knowing what to say.

"He's an idiot and a coward and you deserve so much better," he said.

I shrugged uncomfortably, snuggling closer into him. "Thank you," I sighed, wishing he wouldn't bring me down off my sex high quite so soon.

"Thank you for taking a chance on me, sugar. I realize it was harder than I even knew."

"There _are_ perks," I reminded him, trying to take the edge off the conversation. "Hey, Edward? What about you? Any relationship skeletons in your closet?"

I was teasing, but the resulting awkward silence made my heart begin to pound.

**A/N: Of course it's a cliffie. Just ask the ladies on the thread: I am the devil. =D Guesses on the contents of Southerncomfortward's closet?**


	13. Chapter 13 Just a Few Bones

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Just a Few Bones**

**Edward's POV**

Well, hell. I was afraid the rundown of my dating history was going to set Bella back to reserved and nervous, but I wouldn't lie to her. I decided to ease into the issue, though. No sense in spooking her unnecessarily if she was willing to take the easy answer.

The room was dimly lit by one small Tiffany-style lamp on her bedside table. Her bed was warm, if slightly damp from our sweat, and her body glowed tantalizingly in the half-light. I stroked her arm gently. "Hmmm. Well, my first love was a student teacher when I was fifteen. Sandra Cope. They really should not let hot twenty-two year olds student teach in high schools. Unfortunately she did not return my feelings or those of any of the other horny teenagers panting after her. Some nonsense about ethics and morals and getting fired and going to jail…" I sighed dramatically.

"Poor you," Bella laughed.

"I was heartbroken for almost two days and then I met Heather Easley," I clasped my hands over my heart and chanced a look at Bella who so far was highly entertained by my theatrics.

"And Rachel was free to return your fine feelings?" Bella prompted.

"She was. But she chose not to. She was madly in love with Jasper, but failed to mention that for the three weeks that we dated."

"Ooooh. You didn't catch them…"

"No, no, no. She confessed her feelings to Jasper who stammered and stuttered and ran for the hills. He was still a little shy at that point. And we never got into it over a girl."

"Alice and I didn't speak for almost a week once in high school because of a guy," Bella volunteered. I was surprised. Neither of them struck me as the type.

"Who stole him from whom?" I persisted.

She shook her finger at me in warning. "We're not talking about me."

"I don't know what to tell you, sweetheart. I don't really have any skeletons to speak of."

She shifted onto her stomach and pushed up on her elbows to look at my face. "None? I find that hard to believe. No messy break-ups? Clingy exes?"

"Nope. Nothing serious," I shrugged. "Um, Bella, all you're missing there is a silver platter."

She looked utterly confused until she followed my gaze to where her gorgeous, full breasts were pressed up and out between her upper arms enticingly like she was serving them up to me.

"Ugh! Edward!" she dropped her arms, folded them above her head and laid her forehead on them in embarrassment.

"Oh no, sugar," I chuckled, rolling her over easily and holding her hands over her head. You can't offer up a view like that and expect me to just forget it."

Placing one hand on either side of her shoulders, I lowered my mouth to one tender, tight peak.

"God! Don't you get tired?" she laughed breathlessly. "Don't think you can distract me this way, either!"

"What makes you think I'm trying to distract you?" I asked, letting my lips graze her nipple as I spoke.

"Aren't you?"

I returned my attentions where they belonged for a moment before answering, "Distracting you makes it sound like I'm only paying all this attention to your beautiful body to avoid answering your questions. I'm happy to answer all your questions. _After_."

The thing was, _after_, she forgot the question. I took that as a compliment to my skills, but also we finally fell asleep, seeing as it was after three a.m., and then Emmett called bright and early at seven. Bella answered the phone groggily, only pulling the sheet up to cover herself when she saw how I was looking at her.

"Okay, _I _need a little recovery time even if you don't," she said, as soon as she hung up.

I had to laugh, as I stretched my well-used muscles. "Actually, I do, too, but you're just so tempting, sugar."

"Well, here's a mood killer: Want to meet my parents?" she deadpanned, propping up on one hand.

I was surprised, but I didn't object. I'd rather like seeing where Bella, not to mention Emmett, came from. "Sure. They live somewhere nearby, right?"

"About two hours away in a tiny little town called Forks." Bella looked anxious so I asked her if she'd rather we didn't go.

"No, no. It's nothing like that. Charlie and Renee are nuts, but in a fun way—mostly. No, I'm a little worried for Alice. She's taking Jasper to meet her parents and asked all of us to come along for moral support. It's…not going to be easy for her."

"Why? I don't know anything about Alice's family."

"They're not terrible people. I mean, I don't think they mean to be anyway, but they were really hard on Alice growing up and she doesn't have much of a relationship with them anymore."

"Why were they so hard on her?"

"They're extremely religious, and I don't mean they have a strong faith in God. I mean, no make-up, no haircuts, no dancing, no music, no dating, _religious_. And they raised Alice to be, well, essentially, perfect. And since she couldn't measure up to that, she eventually stopped trying. She wasn't like a wild child or anything, but she did what she wanted to do and dressed how she wanted to dress. She accepted that they didn't like it, but refused to hide it or apologize. Mostly, it was like an uneasy truce at their house with occasional skirmishes where they told her she was going to burn in Hell. She spent most of her time at my house," Bella shrugged, but she still looked sad.

"And when she insisted on going to UW instead of the Christian college they had picked out for her, they pretty much cut off contact and they never helped her financially. She worked her ass off, Edward; she got a few small grants and partial scholarships, she took out student loans, but she never asked them for a cent."

"You sound like a proud mama yourself," I teased gently.

"Yeah. I suppose I feel protective of her. I look at her and it boggles my mind that any parents could not be proud to have her as a daughter. Kind of like Jasper. How do his parents live without him in their lives?"

A few more pieces of the Jasper/Alice puzzle fell into place for me. Even though their stories were completely different, it boiled down to the same thing: Parents who couldn't or wouldn't love and care for them unconditionally. But they'd found family on their own and now they'd found each other.

Which led me to my relationships and why exactly, with a loving, functional, decent family, I had my own issues. It was a kind of running joke in my family that I never dated a woman long enough for them to learn her name. That was a gross exaggeration, of course, but maybe a little closer to home than I was comfortable with now.

That's what I didn't want to tell Bella: That my longest 'long-term' relationship was just over six months and that only two others had come anywhere close to that.

I never intended it to be that way. I saw myself as someone who was actively looking to fall in love, but just hadn't gotten lucky. And then Bella just fell into my life out of the blue and everything was changing.

I just didn't think she would be able to see the truth in that, given her experience with Sam. She would see me as a commitment-phobic player who was fascinated with her because she wasn't readily available. My family had immediately sensed something different about Bella and the way I was with her, but I could imagine her taking the revelation as a reason not to take me seriously.

So the task at hand, for me, was to make her understand how serious I am about her and a possible future together, before she asks too many more questions about my past.

When we got to Alice and Rosalie's apartment, Alice informed us that we had to take two cars and the only fair way to split up was boys in one car, girls in the other. I didn't see how that was the only fair solution, but arguing with Alice seemed like a waste of time and energy. Plus, it avoided any possible closet skeleton discussions with Bella for another couple of hours.

"Fine, but I'm driving my car," Bella insisted stubbornly.

Emmett groaned. "Fine, so I guess we'll see you there. Don't kill my girlfriend."

"Pssh," Rosalie waved him off. "Bella's a great driver. You're just mad because she beats you there every time and never gets a ticket."

Bella grinned at her brother over Rosalie's shoulder and stuck her tongue out.

"Woman, you better start showing some respect around here," Emmett threatened, playfully. Rosalie stalked over to him and planted an X-rated kiss on him that left him panting and adjusting, before climbing into the passenger seat of Bella's Volvo.

"I don't know if that was respect, exactly, but I liked it," Emmett said, jumping into the driver's seat of his Jeep.

Jasper swung Alice around like she weighed nothing, which was almost true, opened the back door of the Volvo for her, and then took shotgun in the Jeep. I got in the back after a quick kiss goodbye to Bella.

Jasper and Emmett and I mostly talked sports and cars and jobs. Emmett and I had a lot to talk about, being in two sides of the same industry, but Jasper held his own, too, having worked in construction and my dad's architecture firm all through high school and college.

Emmett didn't really understand Jasper's career as an artist, but he tried to ask intelligent questions and seemed genuinely interested in seeing Jasper's portfolio.

"You have it with you?" I asked, surprised. He usually only carried it when he was submitting work or trying to book a show.

"Sure. I need to see what kind of reception I can expect in the art community here if…" he trailed off and shrugged, looking out the window.

"You seriously thinking of moving here?" I don't know why this should be such a shock to me. It's not like I didn't know it was a possibility, but somehow, it just didn't seem real. I couldn't picture Jasper in this cool, green, cloudy place permanently. He just belonged somewhere sunny and warm and open. He belonged back home.

"I'm going to be where Alice is, Edward. That's all there is to it. A big part of this trip was for us to really look at all the possibilities and make some sort of decision."

"Hmmm," was all I could say.

"Aren't you considering it? Why interview with Francke if it's not a strong possibility?

"Of course, I'd consider it, if he offered me a job, but…I'd have to be doing it for me," I said carefully, mindful of the fact that Emmett was sitting two feet from me. "I brought up just the possibility of me moving here and Bella looked terrified, so I didn't even go into the job interview."

Emmett chuckled sympathetically. "Bella's always been like that. Dickhead just made it worse," he said. We all knew the Dickhead to whom Emmett was referring and nodded once in agreement, which reminded me of Bella's freak out in the Piggly-Wiggly parking lot about Emmett and I nodding at each other. "Even when she was a little kid, any mention of change of any kind made her tense and worried. She was the only kid I ever met whose reaction to a trip to Disney World was to cry. She was sure we'd get lost or our house would burn down while we were gone. She was a weird little kid."

I laughed, but that little tidbit kind of made my heart hurt. Nobody should live in fear that way, least of all a little kid. The weight of the attachment I felt to her and the potential damage I would do if I fucked it up was beginning to feel a little heavy.

Allowing my mind to drift as I watched the passing scenery, I couldn't get out from under the vague sense of uneasiness I felt in being away from Bella. I wasn't sure what she had done to me or how I had fallen so fast and so hard, without ever really falling at all before, but it was suddenly clear to me: I was in love with Bella Swan.

We all met up at Bella and Emmett's parents' house, a big slightly ramshackle white frame house that looked like the definition of the word _home_. The women were already seated at the big comfortable oak table in the kitchen drinking lemonade and talking a mile a minute with Bella's mother when we arrived.

"Emmett!" Bella's look-alike mother cried, jumping up to throw her arms around her son. "What took you so long, slow-poke?"

"I took the appropriate amount of time," Emmett insisted. "Bella was speeding again."

"Prove it, grandma," Bella sniffed.

"Children, children. Introduce your new friends and act like you have some sense," Mrs. Swan demanded playfully.

"This one is Jasper and he goes over here," Emmett said, pushing Jasper to stand next to Alice and draping his arm artfully over her shoulder.

"And _this_ one is Edward and he belongs right about here," he gave me a little shove until I was standing behind Bella's chair and placed my hands on her shoulders.

"Oh? Oh, well, nice to meet you Jasper, Edward. I'm Renee Swan. Just call me Renee. Charlie is around here somewhere…"

Just then Charlie Swan came in the backdoor and introductions were repeated. I moved my hands from Bella's shoulders to step forward and shake hands with him, but not before he saw the implied intimacy and raised his eyebrows.

"I was just making sure the grill was all ready to go," Charlie told us. "I figured we'd cook out this afternoon after Alice and Jasper get back."

He looked at Alice and his eyes softened noticeably. "You gonna be okay, shrimpy?" he teased kindly.

"Sure I am, Charlie. Thanks," Alice nodded, not looking like she believed it.

"You got a hell of a girl in Alice," Charlie told Jasper seriously. "Don't, uh, don't let anything get you rattled today."

"I won't," Jasper promised. He didn't bother to pretend he didn't know exactly what Charlie was talking about. "Alice has already told me that y'all are more like her family, but there are the formalities."

"Sure," Charlie acknowledged. He turned to me and then looked down at Bella. "What's new with you Bells?" he asked, raising his eyebrows and glancing at me.

"Nothing much. You?" she answered sweetly.

"Don't tease your father, Bella," Renee warned. "He wants to know if you and Edward here are an item." Clearly, Renee wanted to know that, too.

"An item? Oh sure thing. We're going to the sock hop next week. It's gonna be neat-o."

"Smartass," Charlie grumbled.

Renee just turned her big, Bella-like eyes on me instead. "Are you and our darling little smartass dating, Edward?"

"Yes ma'am," I answered immediately. "As much as we can be given that I live in South Carolina."

"I like you, Edward. You're polite and you crack like an egg," Renee said with a big smile. She looked so much like Bella that it was like being able to see what Bella would look like in twenty years. And she was going to look good. One difference though, was where Bella was cautious and self-contained, Renee was enthusiastic and open.

"Leave him alone, you guys. We are dating, but he's only here for a few more days. Don't scare him out of ever coming back," Bella admonished, glancing up at me with an apologetic smile.

"I hate to do this," Alice interrupted. "I mean, I _really_ hate to do this, but we've got to go. Can I borrow your Toyota, Renee?"

"Take my car," Bella offered. "I'm parked behind her."

"What? You're entrusting me with the sacred Volvo? And you're not even coming along on the drive? You never let anyone drive your car."

"I drove it last night," I blurted out unnecessarily. There was a pause in conversation where everyone turned to stare at me with varying degrees of disbelief.

"It's a special occasion, Alice, and I'm trying to be nice. I'll stop trying if you like," Bella started to drop the keys she had proffered, back into her purse, but Alice darted forward and snatched them, kissing her on the cheek in thanks.

Charlie sighed and turned to lock eyes with Renee who looked equally concerned.

"I hope it goes okay for them," Renee said.

"I can't believe she thinks she owes it to them to even meet Jasper," Emmett groused. "She doesn't owe those people jack."

"Well, I think it says something about the kind of person she is, that she keeps trying to bridge the gap," Renee said briskly, turning to the refrigerator. "I just wish it didn't upset her so much to see them. Anybody want a drink?"

While Renee was passing out sodas and beers, Bella reached out and took my hand, giving it a small squeeze. I sat down next to her, keeping her hand entwined with mine.

"She has Jasper this time," I reminded her. "He can work miracles with difficult people sometimes. He's like a jerk whisperer."

Bella threw her head back and laughed and once again everyone turned from their conversations to stare. I ignored it, not knowing what else to do, and kept going. "When Jasper and I worked for that construction company when we were in high school, they used to send him to tell difficult clients when there was going to be a delay or an additional cost or anything. Nine times out of ten, by the time he was done, they were thanking him and they didn't even know why."

"Now that's what I call a useful skill," Charlie said approvingly. "I wish any one of my deputies could do that with the belligerent drunks on Saturday nights."

With that we moved on from the topic of Alice and Jasper and just talked and hung out. Charlie had a horseshoe pitch set-up in the backyard so I went out with him and Emmett and Rosalie, while Bella caught up with her mom.

Charlie was just as funny as Emmett, but in a drier, less boisterous way. I was surprised that he didn't ask any further questions about me dating his daughter, but he didn't and it was a comfortable, enjoyable hour until Alice and Jasper came back.

The first I knew they were back, Jasper came out the back door looking tense and angry, but trying to hide it.

Charlie took one look at him and grimaced sympathetically, but didn't comment.

"You okay?" I asked quietly. "Where's Alice?"

"I'm fine. Bella took Alice upstairs… She's, I don't know, they were just so fucking cold, man," Jasper said, but he glanced at Charlie apologetically. "Sorry, sir."

Charlie shrugged and Emmett snorted. "We've said much worse about the Brandons around here, trust me."

"I'm going to go check on Alice," Rosalie announced, vacating a chair for Jasper. She patted his arm briefly as she walked by him.

Handing Jasper a cold beer from the cooler by his feet, Charlie clapped him on the back. "It was a nice gesture on both your parts, but some people just aren't worth the effort." He spoke calmly, but I could see the dislike etched in his face.

The morning had been beautiful, but since we had been outside, a dark-edged pale gray cloud cover had been moving in, obscuring the sun and dropping the temperature a few degrees.

"Can I ask y'all for your opinions on something?" Jasper asked, looking in turn at me, Charlie and Emmett. "I was planning to propose to Alice today, with all of you here, but now I'm wondering if I better not. Maybe this isn't the right time…"

"Wow, Jas. Just…wow," was all I could get out.

"I think it's a great idea," Charlie chimed in with a big grin. "And I'm not just saying that because I want to be there when you do it."

"Just give Alice a little bit to get herself together. She never lets things keep her down for long. You'll know if the time is right," Emmett offered, completely seriously. When he saw the looks of surprise on my face and Jasper's, he laughed self-consciously. "What? It's not like I haven't thought about proposing to Rose."

"What's stopping you?" I asked.

"I don't know. I like things the way they are, I guess—hey! We're talking about Jasper and Alice right now."

Sometime later Bella came out the backdoor. I was facing the house at the time and I felt my heart jump in my chest at the sight of her. The wind was freshening as the clouds continued to creep across the sky and her hair was sent flying around her gentle, smiling face. She was wearing a pair of snug olive pants with a deep blue peasant blouse that showed off her long graceful neck and delicate-looking collarbones. She moved self-consciously, knowing I was watching her, and yet it was enthralling to watch her approaching. Knowing her body intimately, her heart and mind better all the time, it was a rush.

I was suddenly jealous of Jasper. If he chose to, he would be proposing to Alice today and it would be romantic and meaningful. If I proposed to Bella today, she would probably run screaming in the other direction.

Too soon, too crazy, too much.

**A/N: So there you have Edward's big secret: No skeletons, but a lot of bones. =D. Jasper will weigh in on Edward's track record with women next chapter, plus he may propose to Alice. Bella's going to reveal a hidden talent and Charlie and Renee have a little news of their own to share. **


	14. Chapter 14 Relations and Revelations

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Relations & Revelations**

**Bella's POV**

"Spill!" Rosalie demanded as soon as we were in my car on our way to Forks. "We want details: When, where, how hard, how often. Go!"

"Excuse me?" I said, refusing to take my eyes off the road and meet her gaze.

"You're excused. Now come on. You've been shacked up with the Hilton Head hottie for days now and we've had no chance to dish. I want details!" Rose demanded. "Especially after the way he hauled your horny little ass out of the club last night."

"Rose! I am not talking about this. It's private," I said firmly.

"Oh please! You got started on the dance floor!"

Alice intervened from the backseat, "She's right, Rosie, and she doesn't have to talk about sex if she isn't comfortable."

"Thank you," I said.

"No problem. Here are your topic choices: Sex, love, death or marriage. Take your pick," Alice said smoothly.

I hesitated, mulling over the possible turns those conversations could take. Finally I said, "The sex is fantastic. But we got interrupted last night. Sam was waiting for us at my apartment."

"_What_?" They both screeched and just like that I was off the hook for details of my sex life. I didn't feel it necessary to share that the interruption was only temporary. Instead I filled them In on the gist of my closure conversation with Sam and how Edward handled it.

"You think Sam will really leave you alone now?" Alice asked.

"I think so. And if he doesn't, from here on out it's his problem. I just don't care what he thinks or does anymore," I shrugged. It felt good to say and absolutely true.

"And how much do you care about what Edward thinks and does?" Rosalie prompted, her voice softer and more genuinely curious now.

I drove for a minute before I answered, "More than I should."

I let the girls dissect my love life for another ten minutes or so. Rosalie's advice was 'get it while you can, don't worry about the future'. Alice felt that Edward and I were destined to be together and I should be open to love. I turned the topic to Alice taking Jasper to meet her parents.

"You think it's a bad idea," Alice sighed.

"No-o. I think you're incredibly forgiving and generous. I just don't want you to let them get you down, okay?" I said

"I won't. Look, I want Jasper to meet them at least once. And then, we'll just see… I don't care if I even see them again after that," Alice feigned nonchalance, but I knew better.

I was there for her childhood and adolescence, watching her try so hard to please them and later just to find some middle ground with them. But Martin and Beth Brandon didn't meet anyone halfway on anything. As far as I was concerned they were uptight, self-righteous, close-minded, delusional religious fanatics. Plus, I didn't like them.

It was hard for me to understand why Alice even bothered with them anymore after the way they had treated her and the way they completely cut her off when she rejected their choice of colleges. But I had to support her decision. I have no idea what it's like to be rejected by your own parents and what that really does to your psyche.

"They're assholes," Rose stated succinctly.

I glanced in the rearview to see Alice staring back at me with raised eyebrows before she rolled her eyes and laughed. Sometimes Rose's bluntness was a godsend.

I wasn't sure how to let Renee and Charlie know I was dating Edward without making a big issue out if it, but Emmett solved that problem with his own unique brand of obnoxiousness. To my parents' credit, they didn't go overboard after the initial grilling. I was a little surprised but it occurred to me that maybe they were a little gun shy about being too enthusiastic about someone new, too.

They had really welcomed Sam into our family with open arms and had been just as shocked and mystified by his behavior as I was. So maybe they were holding back a little, but that was okay. That was probably good.

My dad and Emmett and Rosalie decided to go out back and throw horseshoes and asked Edward to go with them. As he went out the backdoor he gave me one of those sly, lopsided grins and I had this sudden sense of déjà vu, like this had happened many times before. Or maybe it meant that it would be happening many times again. The comment he made about the possibility that he might move to Seattle ran through my mind before I pushed it away. There is such a thing as too good to be true and Edward seemed like a prime example.

I smiled back, though, because I was sticking to my decision to let myself enjoy what was and not waste time worrying about what would be.

I was sitting on the porch with my mom when Alice and Jasper pulled up in the driveway. I was trying to convince Renee that we needed to get lunch started if we were going to eat before dinner time, but my voice trailed off when I saw Jasper was driving my car. I knew immediately that the meeting with her parents had gone every bit as badly as I had expected.

I started to get up, but Renee put a hand on my knee. "Wait, Bells. Let him help her."

I can't describe what specifically Jasper did. He simply had an arm around her shoulders, but his care and concern and protectiveness were plain to see and she was leaning into him absorbing it all.

Alice smiled gamely, but she knew her red-rimmed eyes were giving her away. "It's fine, Don't worry about it. At least it's over, right?"

Standing up, I held my arms out to her and she fell into me. I could feel her shaking, trying to hold back the sobs pulling at her chest.

"Alice," I whispered in her ear. "Alice, you're okay."

"Jasper, the guys are out back. You want to grab a beer and let them know you're back? We'll take good care of Alice," my mom assured him.

Jasper looked stressed, but he nodded and smiled briefly at Renee. "Is that okay with you Ali?"

"Yes, please. Just give me a few minutes to pull myself together," she said. She turned to him and went up on her toes to kiss him on the cheek. "I'm sorry, Jaz."

"Hey! You have nothing to apologize for," he said, pulling her close again. He whispered something to her and she nodded against his chest.

Upstairs in my room, there was nothing new I could tell Alice. Her parents were cruel for reasons I couldn't begin to understand. The bottom line as always was that it had nothing to do with Alice. Whatever forces drove her parents to behave the way they did, it wasn't Alice's fault and there was nothing she could do to change them. I always had the feeling that she believed that if she was just a little better they would love her.

"I know, Bella, rationally I _know_. But they are _my__parents_," her voice got higher and her eyes brimmed over again. "And it _hurts_ when they reject me. I can't help trying. Please try to understand."

"Do you think I'm blaming you for trying?" I was surprised that I seemed to be adding to her distress.

Just then Rosalie knocked and poked her head in. We waved her in and she came to sit on the other side of Alice, wrapping her arms around her.

"I was just telling Alice that I don't think she's stupid or wrong to keep trying, I just hate to see her so hurt."

"I've never met your parents, sweetie, but anyone who does this to you, doesn't deserve to be a part of your life," Rosalie added.

"Every time I go through this, I tell myself it's the last time. But then…this time it was something Jasper said about how strange it is to know his parents are out there somewhere, but not know where or how to reach them. I started thinking at least I know where my parents are and maybe I should try one more time."

"I don't blame you, Al, I would probably do the same thing," I sighed.

"We just hate to see you like this," Rosalie said, rubbing her arm.

Alice sat up and took a deep breath, carefully wiping the mascara from under her eyes with her forefingers. "You won't have to, anymore. I'm done. I just needed a chance to cry it out. And I needed you two." She hugged us hard and then stood up and darted to the door. "I'm going to clean up my face and then I need to go find Jasper!"

Rosalie looked at me after Alice left the room. "That was quick. Think she's really okay?"

I shrugged. "Probably. Alice kind of makes herself okay by pretending she's okay until she is. It seems to work for her. I seriously hate her fucking parents!" I snarled the last part and Rose laughed.

"I love when you get all tough chick, Bell! It's like watching a kitten turn into a tigress right in front of me!" she teased. "Personally, I'm glad I never met them. I don't know if you've noticed this, but I'm not all that good at holding back on my feelings."

I rolled my eyes and hauled her up off my bed. "Come on. Have my dad and Emmett completely traumatized Edward yet?"

"Nope. They're behaving and Edward seems right at home. Who knows? Maybe he will be soon!"

I let that slide. We were walking down to the first floor and my mom intercepted us at the foot of the stairs.

"Is Alice all right?" she asked.

"She will be. She's putting on her game face," I said, knowing she would know what I meant.

Renee surprised me by pulling me to her and hugging me tight. "It's just not fair," she said quietly and I knew just what she meant, too.

The darkening sky outside the living room windows caught my eye. "Uh, Mom? I don't think a barbecue is in the cards. Have you noticed it's about to rain?"

Renee glanced around and looked surprised. "I guess you're right. I hadn't noticed. I guess we'll just cook inside..."

I glanced at Rosalie and rolled my eyes while she grinned. My mom is so oblivious it's comical—unless you're the one who has spent most of her life pointing out the potential disasters and general necessities of life. My dad was almost as bad, content to drift along in Renee's erratic wake.

Charlie was all business at work, but it was like he just abdicated all responsibility when he walked in the door at home. And leaving all the responsible day-to-day decisions up to Renee was a recipe for chaos. Frankly, I was surprised they hadn't burnt the house down years ago.

I sighed and headed out the back door to point out the imminent rain to my dear old dad.

**Edward's POV**

I assumed that Charlie and Emmett just wanted to stay outdoors as long as possible until the rain started. But when Bella pointed out to them that it was, in fact, about to start raining, they both seemed genuinely surprised.

Bella herded everyone inside and took over preparing lunch and moving things along. She assigned everyone something to do and before I knew it we were eating a really fantastic lunch.

"That was pretty impressive the way you took over there," I told her, leaning into whisper in her ear. "And _this_ is wonderful." I pointed with my fork at the pasta with grape tomatoes, fresh spinach leaves and feta cheese, topped with slices of melt-in-your-mouth steak.

"Thanks," she grinned and rolled her eyes. "If I didn't take over we might all starve to death waiting for anyone else in my family to notice it was time to get things started. I don't think they ever cook when I'm not here. They just wander over to the diner eventually."

Ah. The key to Bella's tendency to worry and plan and need to control things? The fact that she was the only one who did in her family. I love when a puzzle begins to come together. It makes it so much easier to complete the picture and see where I might fit in.

By the time the meal was finished it was really coming down in buckets outside. We were in no hurry to head back to the city and didn't want to start out during the deluge. Frankly I was wondering whether Jasper was going to propose or punk out. He showed no inclination either way.

I was talking to Charlie so I didn't hear how it started, but somehow Emmett started on a campaign to get Bella to show us a hidden talent. Alice immediately joined in, getting more and more hyper and insistent.

"Oh please, Bella! I want to see the look on Edward and Jasper's faces! And Rose! Rose has never seen you do it! And I've had a really rough day, you know! _Please_?" Alice begged.

"You manipulative little monster!" Bella admonished. Her face was glowing bright red, but she grinned and gave in. "Fine. Go get it, Emmett."

She cast a nervous glance at me and immediately looked away. She looked back and just sighed, "Sorry about this."

I was mystified but anxious to see whatever it might be. Charlie and Renee were smiling indulgently. Jasper just shrugged, equally in the dark.

"You know what it is?" I asked Rose.

"Yes. They've told me about this, but she would never agree to do it for _me_, " she huffed, pretending to be offended.

Emmett came pounding back down the stairs with a black and white electric guitar in one hand and a small portable amp in the other. He set it up quickly and handed it to Bella who slipped the strap over her shoulder and took a pick from Emmett.

"Let's make sure the volume is at a reasonable level please," Charlie said wryly. "I don't want to have to cite myself for creating a disturbance."

Bella let her hair fall forward to hide her flaming face and bent forward to check the volume on the amp. "Okay, one song. That's all. Any requests?"

Renee shouted out _Should__I__Stay__or__Should__I__Go_ and Bella launched into it with no hesitation.

She was damn good and everyone, including me—more surprisingly including _Charlie__—__s_ang along except where we mumbled along with the parts we'd forgotten. I was dumbfounded. Bella, though she was clearly uncomfortable and trying to hide behind her hair, was good…and unbelievably hot!

When she finished everyone clamored for more, but she steadfastly refused. "I said one! I'm done."

She sat down next to me and buried her face against my shoulder.

"I begged for that guitar for months when I was fourteen," Emmett said. "I got it for Christmas, took three lessons and realized I was never going to be able to play the guitar."

"But we had already paid for a year's worth of lessons and we didn't want them to go to waste so we convinced Bella to give it a shot," Renee continued. "She was a natural!"

Bella snorted, but didn't lift her face.

"She would hardly ever play in front of anyone but her teacher, but the few times she did, she earned quite a following," Emmett laughed. "My friend Tyler is still determined that he's going to marry her someday."

Bella finally sat up and glared daggers at her brother. "Don't start with Tyler. He's insane."

Emmett just shrugged and nodded cheerfully in agreement.

"Doesn't change the fact that you look smoking hot playing that thing, Bells!" Rosalie said, taking the words right out of my mouth.

"Yeah you do!" Alice hooted.

"Please shut up," Bella begged.

"Don't be embarrassed, Bella," Jasper spoke up suddenly. "Eddie here plays piano and he played keyboard in a garage band in our freshmen year of high school. I think that's when the parade of girls really got started, wasn't it?" He turned to me with a big dumb grin.

"I—no…I mean, I didn't…" I stopped, not sure what the hell to say. "We were literally a garage band, as in that's the only place we played."

"So, parade of girls, huh?" Rosalie jumped in. "And was this like a local homecoming parade or like a Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade?"

"It wasn't—" I started, but Jasper interrupted.

"Macy's," he said, elbowing me.

Bella was looking at me now, frank curiosity, and the realization that we hadn't really finished our perusal of my closet, written all over her face.

"Jasper, should I start telling stories about your adolescence?" I demanded.

"No. Actually…" he hesitated and then cleared his throat and scooted forward on his chair, "actually, Alice and I have been talking a lot about our pasts and how we got to where we are now. I think she knows almost as much about me as you do." He smiled at me meaningfully and I knew what he was about to do. I nodded my support back to him.

Jasper stood up and took Alice's hands, pulling her up to stand with him. "Alice, I know this may not be the way you dreamed of it, but I wanted to do this with the people who love you almost as much as I do all around you. These people are your _real_ family and I would love to be a part of it." He put his hand in his front pocket and pulled out the velvet box. "Alice, will you marry me?"

I expected hysterics from Alice; hyperventilating and crying. But once again, I underestimated her. She just put her arms around his neck and pulled him down to kiss him sweetly.

"You kept me waiting long enough," she said. "I was ready to marry you the day I met you."

"So, who's moving across the country and you better say Jasper!" Rosalie warned once the initial congratulations and ring ogling were over.

Alice looked nervous and Jasper looked anxious.

"I'm moving to Hilton Head," Alice admitted. "I just love it, and Jasper has a real following there and I can do what I do anywhere."

There was a long quiet moment and I saw Bella's expression drop. She covered quickly and congratulated Alice and Jasper again, promising to visit often, but underneath it, she looked hurt and stunned.

"Well, in the spirit of sharing big news," Charlie started, "your mom and I have some."

All eyes turned to Charlie and Renee and I wondered abstractly if they were about to announce that they were expecting a change of life baby.

"Next year, Charlie has thirty years with the police force. He's going to retire and we're moving to Florida," Renee held her hands out, palms up, grinning ear-to-ear.

"_What_?" Bella and Emmett both cried.

"I promised your mom when she married me the second time that, if she stuck by me, when I retired we would go anywhere she wanted. She wants to go to Florida, so…" He shrugged and put his arm around Renee. He saw the confusion on my face and let me in on the story. "Renee and I divorced once when the kids were still babies. We lived apart for almost six months before we admitted we made a big mistake. We remarried and we've been together ever since."

"Florida," Bella said. "_You_are leaving Forks for the first time in your life and you're going to Florida?"

"Yes, Bella, we are," Charlie answered and his tone ended any argument.

Congratulations were offered all around, again, but there was definite tension in the air. Bella was visibly upset and Emmett just seemed confused.

I loved meeting Bella's parents and seeing where she grew up, but when it was time to go, I was relieved. So much had happened in a relatively short period of time, I needed a break from it all. I was thrilled when Bella insisted that Jasper and Alice ride back with Emmett and Rosalie so she and I could be alone.

While everyone else was saying their goodbyes I asked Jasper for a minute. We went out to the cars and leaned against Emmett's Jeep.

"I really wish you hadn't opened that particular can of worms, Jasper," I tried not to let the irritation show in my voice, but I know it did. "About the girls."

"I'm sorry, man. Jerking you around like that just comes second nature, you know? I really never thought about how it would sound given the company we're keeping." He seemed genuinely sorry.

"No, I know. It's my own fucking fault. I never gave my dating history a second thought until recently. Now I think it looks kind of shady and I'm worried about what Bella will think."

"You haven't talked about this at all?"

"Not really. I told her about Sandra Cope." Jasper grinned at the memory that name conjured up, but groaned a second later when I told him I told Bella about Heather Easley.

"I still say you owe me for that one," he groused. "She was hot _and_ warm for my form." He flexed his chest muscles like a douche.

"Uh-huh. And you were scared shitless of her so don't pretend you running from her was entirely noble, jackass," I said. Jasper just laughed, knowing it was true.

"What are you going to tell Bella?" he asked after a moment.

"The truth. That I've dated a lot, but just never met the right person and didn't want to string anybody along," I shrugged. My head whipped up like it was on a chain when I heard Jasper's snort of laughter. "What?"

"That there is some finely executed bullshit, son," Jasper chuckled as I fumed. "Oh, what? Are you serious? Come on, Edward. At least be honest with yourself.

"You've had girls throwing themselves at you since the first time you thought about hitting puberty. That's not your fault and I don't blame you for taking advantage of the opportunities, but you have to admit you've never exactly gone looking for the relationship type."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean? What are you implying?"

"I'm not implying, I'm saying you've been happy to sit back and see who fell into your lap. Not that some of them weren't nice people, but Christy is the only one I can think of that I would call real relationship material for you and you cut her loose before she could finish saying the word commitment." Jasper was laughing as he finished the sentence but I couldn't find a funny fucking thing about what he was saying.

"You're high," I scoffed. "Besides, may I remind you that Bella fell into my lap? Aren't you worried I'll fuck things up with you and Alice if I hurt Bella?"

"Are you going to hurt Bella?" he asked in all seriousness.

"No! Dammit, Jasper. Is this really what you think of me?"

"I'm being honest with you, brother. You know I love you like family, but if I had known you were going to be home when Alice brought Bella and Rose and Em down, I would've asked you to back off her, just in case. But, as it happened, I could tell you were different with her from the beginning."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I still had my doubts, which is why I waited to ask you to come up here with me until the last minute. But I had never seen you pine over a woman before, so I decided to take a risk. And I was right, wasn't I? You're in love with her."

"It's too soon for that shit," I mumbled, looking at the grass under our feet.

"Doesn't make it less true," Jasper said. "You're an idiot if you don't give this every chance, Ed."

I was on the verge of blowing him off, just nodding and walking away from the whole damn conversation, but if I ever needed Jasper's advice, now was the time.

"What do I do here, Jasper? I want to tell her…you know, how I feel, but I don't want to pressure her. I'm seriously thinking about moving here and I'm not gonna lie and say that has nothing to do with her. I'm goddamned jealous that you got to propose to Alice knowing she'd say yes. I've known Bella for less than two months and I'm wondering when, if ever, I'll be able to do that. I don't know…"

Jasper came close to getting his teeth knocked in when he laughed again.

"There's just no in between for you, is there? You go from commitment-phobic to down-on-one-knee. I'll tell you the God's honest truth, Edward, I'm more afraid for you than her at this point. At least she has some defenses built up. Just—I don't know—do what feels right in the moment. You read people better than anyone I know. You'll figure it out."

He tilted his head to let me know the others were heading our way and I nodded in understanding. He punched me lightly on the arm, shaking his head at the same time.

As soon as we got into the car Bella took a deep breath and sighed like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. "I can't believe Alice is moving away. I don't think we've gone more than a week or two without seeing each other since junior high. Everything is changing so damn fast."

"Aren't you glad she's marrying Jasper?" I asked.

"Of course. They're perfect together. I guess I just hoped he would move here," she admitted, watching the road carefully as she sped through the fast approaching twilight. "And my parents! There is no way they're moving to Florida. This is just another one of Renee's insane ideas. She'll forget all about it before Charlie actually retires." She didn't sound all that confident about it, though.

"Can you take one more bit of news? Hopefully, this one will make you happy," I said, praying I was right about that.

She glanced at me briefly and nodded for me to continue.

"When I talked about moving here? I wasn't just saying that. Emmett got me an interview with Francke and Associates for tomorrow morning. There really is a possibility that I could move to Seattle," I explained.

"You—wow! I'm so happy for you, Edward. I know how much you admire his work. How cool would that be to go to work for him?" Bella flashed a happy smile at me, but she stopped there. I still didn't know how she felt personally.

"And, would it be a good thing to you, to have me here permanently?" I finally pushed.

"Well, sure. I think it would be…great. It's just that I just got adjusted to the idea of you here, staying in my apartment for five days, and this is a lot to take in. Don't get me wrong, Edward. I love having you here. I love—the time we've spent together, but you really do scare the hell out of me."

"Why? What have I done to make you feel that way?"

"Nothing! That's the point. You're damn near perfect, but I don't know what to do with that. I don't know if that's the real you. I don't know the story behind this so-called parade of girls. And, I'm not trying to be all melodramatic on you here, but I really can't let myself get hurt again like I did with Sam," she kept her eyes front. "And I'm afraid this could end worse."

"Why worse?" I asked quietly, hoping I knew the answer.

She hesitated. "There's no sense in stalling is there? We only have so much time to talk about this and make some major decisions. I loved Sam. I really did. But even with that, there was never this kind of chemistry with him. I feel literally drawn to you, like I can't help it. And I would have run screaming from that if you hadn't turned out to be such an amazing person on top of that. I—"

"I love you, Bella," I blurted out. I wanted to say it first in case that was what she was going say. I needed her to know without a doubt that I was feeling it. I didn't want her to wonder if I only said it because she said it. "I have never been in love before, never even thought I was, but I know I love you."

"I—oh god. I think…I could love you, too," she stammered. I had to laugh a little because she looked like this was the worst news she had gotten all night.

I reached over and took her hand, caressing the back of it with my thumb. "Don't be afraid. I meant it when I told you, that night on the beach, that I didn't want to be a regret to you—and I feel even more that way now. I won't hurt you."

She visibly tensed up, letting her hand lay in mine, but not responding to my touch. "Let's not—Edward, can we just keep it light the rest of the way home? I need a chance to recover from the insanity."

I took a deep breath and let myself relax. I could understand her fear and how hard it must be to trust me. I let myself enjoy the prospect of some uninterrupted time with Bella. The rain was still falling, but it was a mild drizzle now.

"You read my mind," I admitted. "Holy hell, what a day! Is it always like that when you go home?"

"No, it's rarely boring, but that was over-the-top even for my family," Bella laughed. She relaxed as if the last half hour had never happened and I didn't know whether that was good or bad. "I feel like I need a nice long nap."

The thought of snuggling up for a nap in Bella's big bed was appealing, but that, of course, led to other even more appealing thoughts. And suddenly Bella's apartment seemed way too far away.

"Or…maybe you just need to release a little tension," I suggested. "Maybe sooner than later." At my tone, she glanced over at me and then back at the road. _Why__not?_ I thought. _Why__not__revert__to__what__was__easy__and__good__between__us?_

I just looked at her meaningfully, watching the smile threatening at the corner of her delectable mouth. She finally looked at me again quickly before returning her attention to the road ahead.

"You're serious? You want to defile my precious Volvo?"

"Defile? _Defile_? No, I don't want to defile it," I purred, slipping my hand over to her thigh and rubbing gently. "I want to consecrate it."

"I don't even let people eat in this car, Edward," she admonished, but there was hitch to her voice and a playful edge to her words.

"Oh sugar, I think you'll let _me_ eat in this car." I dropped my voice to its lowest, most seductive and moved my hand up a little further.

"You're trying to kill me," she accused, but I noticed she had slowed and appeared to be scouting for places to pull over.

It took a few tries to find the right spot, but finally we found a turn off that led to a quiet back road. She pulled as far over near the trees as she safely could and cut the engine.

She turned to face me, a look of frustration on her face. "Why are you able to do this to me?" she demanded. "One dirty little smirk and I'm looking for a make-out spot on the side of the road. You're dangerous."

"Mmmhmm," I agreed. "Dangerous. Want to climb in the backseat with a dangerous man?"

"God, yes," she breathed.

Car sex is not take-your-time-and-enjoy-the-nuances sex. It's can't-wait-another-second-even-though-it's-cramped-and-messy-and-uncomfortable sex.

But this was Bella, on a rainy night in her beloved car, surrounded by green and black and rustling and raindrops pelting against metal. It was after a long day of revelations and emotional upheaval. It was the first time we made love after we said I love you. And it was happening with a lot of unanswered questions still on both of our minds.

I thought Bella would be afraid of getting caught and want to keep on as much clothing as possible, but she showed me once again how wrong I can be. She stripped naked in a matter of moments, urging me to do the same with her teasing fingers. She pushed me to sit back in the seat, so I was facing the windshield, and straddled my lap.

She reached behind her for her purse on the front seat and rifled through it until she came up triumphantly with a condom.

"Slide forward, Edward, please," she whispered huskily.

I did what she asked, loving her in charge. I moved my ass to the edge of the seat, slouching down so that she could slide first the prophylactic and then her own warm, wet self down over my cock, wasting no time with the preliminaries.

"I just want to be close to you," she sighed, laying pressed against the length of my body, with me buried deep inside her. Her head rested on my chest and no doubt she could hear my heart hammering in my chest. I wrapped my arms around her back and kissed the top of her head, willing my hips to stay still and not break this moment. But god, I was losing the battle.

"What do you want?" Bella whispered still, raising her head to look in my eyes.

"You," I managed to croak.

"I mean, do you want me to move?" she asked, suddenly thrusting herself hard up and down my shaft. And then she stopped. "Or do you want me to lie still with you?" She snuggled back into me, but kept her sparkling eyes on mine.

I growled. "Don't tease me right now, sugar. I just told you I'm in love with you. That's the first time I've ever said that to anyone and now I want to make love to you. I'm not playing games. Let me have this."

So much for keeping things light, but I couldn't help it. Her eyes softened and searched my face. Without saying a word, she nodded and stretched up slightly more to kiss me softly as we started to move together. She kissed my lips, my cheeks, my chin and jaw line, she moved on to my ears and my neck, paying special attention to my pulse point, making me pulse inside of her. Her breath caught and she sighed against my chest as she peppered kisses there.

My hands roamed her slightly chilled skin, warming her and heating up myself. I cupped her breasts, teasing the peaks with my thumbs so I could feel the vibrations of her moans against my skin. I drifted over her back, up into her hair, back down to run over and over her pretty little ass. Finally I moved to her clit, finding it already sensitive and swollen for me from the position.

When she came, she laid her head back down on my chest and concentrated her rhythm and force on bringing me to orgasm which didn't take long. I lay holding her, catching my breath and listening to the spatter of rain against the car until I realized my chest was getting wet. Bella was crying silently, trying not to let me know.

"What is it, Bella? What's wrong?" I asked her, angling her chin up to look at me with my fingers. Her face was splotchy and red from holding back the emotion, and her eyes were a little swollen and she was still beautiful.

"Nothing!" she half-laughed, half-cried. "Nothing is wrong! That's what's wrong. This can't be right. It can't be this easy!"

I just laughed and shook my head and kissed her hard and quick. "Apparently it can, sugar, because I love you and I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me to."

She snuggled back into me and we shifted a bit to get comfortable. I was more than a little surprised at how easy it was, too. For the first time in my life I was head over heels in love.

**A/N: So, Edward said "I love you", but did Bella? Hmm. **


	15. Chapter 15 Fallout

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Fallout**

**Edward's POV**

I felt sick before I ever got on the plane, so it wasn't motion sickness.

It seemed like time had telescoped between Sunday and Wednesday. I told Bella I loved her, but I didn't realize until later that she hadn't really said she loved me. _I __think__…__I __could __love __you, __too._ Sunday night I went to bed with a woman who was obviously nervous, but open to me. I woke up Monday morning to a woman who was calm as standing water on the outside and shutting me out.

She was already out of bed when I woke up and I could hear her moving around the kitchen. I checked the time and got in the shower to be sure and give myself plenty of time to get to my interview. I was pleasantly nervous and buzzing with adrenaline by the time I came into the kitchen and grabbed her around the waist from behind as she stood at the sink.

"Well, good morning to you! Someone's in a good mood," Bella laughed. The words were right, the voice was right, but when she turned around to face me, her eyes were all wrong. Limited eye contact and a wall of avoidance. I was confused, but thought maybe she just needed a little reassurance.

"Mmm-hmm. How are you feeling this morning, sugar?" I asked, kissing her lightly on the lips.

"Great," she kissed me back and moved away, busying herself with getting orange juice out of the refrigerator. "I made you a good luck breakfast."

"Aw, thanks, but—"

"Sure! I wish I could stay and enjoy it with you, but I have to go down to the restaurant for a little while," she eased past me and grabbed her purse off the kitchen table.

"What? Wait, I thought you were off for—"

"Yeah, no, I am, but something—a sort of emergency—came up and I promised I would come in for the morning. I figured it was no big deal because you're not even going to be here, right?"

"Uh. Right. Okay, well, I'll see you this afternoon then?"

"Of course! Good luck on the interview, Edward. Really," she came back to me and kissed me again, a little longer and harder. She smiled up at me, but her eyes quickly went distant again. "I'll see you sometime later today. I'll just meet you back here, you know, whenever."

She already had her hand on the front doorknob when I called her name.

"Bella! What's going on? Everything okay?"

"Everything's great! See you later," she waved cheerfully without actually making eye contact.

I chose to believe her at the time.

**Bella's POV**

When I told Edward I got called into the restaurant on a sort of emergency, I was lying through my teeth. I won't pretend it was even a half-truth. James did call me, but he just had a simple question regarding a minor change in the menu for the evening due to a fish we usually serve being unavailable. James couldn't reach Bruce, or so he said, and I was next on the chain of command.

"I'll just come down there," I told James quickly.

"You don't need to," James assured me smoothly. "I've got it all under control."

I hadn't told Edward, but I was beginning to get the feeling that James was after my job rather than my body.

"See you in about an hour," I told him firmly and hung up.

As I tossed my phone back into my purse I realized I was relieved to have an excuse to go back to work. What did that mean?

I was not nearly ready to profess my undying love, but I was crazy about Edward. Maybe that was the problem: Crazy. The farther I fell into this thing with him, the more I struggled to keep a toe hold on some semblance of reality so that I could find my way back when he left.

At the restaurant I found that work had not lost its soothing effect on me. As soon as I walked into the loud, frenetic, organized chaos of the kitchen, my focus sharpened, my nerves steadied and I took what felt like the first real deep breath I'd had in days.

"I told you didn't need to drag yourself out of bed to come down here," James's hot breath on my neck as he spoke quietly in my ear, made me shiver. I hadn't even seen him come up beside me.

"I wasn't in bed, James," I retorted irritably, moving away from him.

He took a moment to look me up and down lasciviously. "Pity. So your redneck Romeo isn't cutting it, huh?"

If looks could have killed, James would've dropped dead on the spot. But since he didn't, I grabbed him by the arm and shoved him toward the nearby walk-in cooler. Once we were both inside with the door shut I let him have it.

"I don't know or care what your problem is with me all of a sudden, but if you value your job, you will _not_ speak to me like that again!" I spoke at a reasonable level, but my voice shook with anger.

James started to say something with that snarky, arrogant look on his face, so I cut him off.

"And don't even pretend you don't think I could get you fired, because we both know I can! What happened anyway, James? We've always gotten along. I think I have always treated you well and shown you the respect you deserve. Why can you not do the same for me all of a sudden?" I demanded.

The expression on his face morphed rapidly and finally settled into a sort of sullen remorse. Waiting for him to speak, I took in the closed-in smell of chilled sauces and chopped vegetables and prepped portions of steak and chicken and fish. The red onions were particularly strong where I was standing.

"I didn't realize I was getting to you so much," he finally said. "You never seemed to notice anything I did outside of cooking for you."

I puzzled over that. "What does that mean exactly, James?"

"Shit, Bella," he half-whined. "I've had a thing for you since I started here. I understood you not seeing it when you were engaged to Sam. I tried not to let it show. But then you guys broke up and I thought…"

What could I say to that? Even if Edward hadn't come into my life, I just didn't feel that way about James. He's a good-looking man in his own right and he _was_ fun to work with, but absolutely not my type, from the long hair on down to the kind of smarmy charm. It didn't seem necessary or helpful to tell him that, though.

"James, listen, when you started here I was already with Sam and then we broke-up and I wasn't in any shape to…and then…" I gestured vaguely.

"And then you went and met that—"

"Stop. Yes, I met Edward. And it has become serious pretty quickly. He may be moving here," I admitted with a little shrug.

James laughed an ugly little laugh. "Sure he will. Bella, can't you see the guy is feeding you a line? You are beautiful and dead sexy, but no man uproots his entire life for a woman after a month. Especially not one like him. He's got money, right? And I'm betting he's got women all over him wherever he goes. There's no way that guy stays faithful for longer than it takes to get a stewardess into one of those tiny little bathrooms."

I grabbed the horizontal handle of the walk-in and wrenched the door open. "That was your last shot, James. Say one more thing to me about my personal life, or yours, and you're done. From now on, I don't want to hear anything from you that isn't directly related to the running of this restaurant."

I took a deep breath and headed for the prep line to see where we were and what needed doing. James followed shortly and we worked side by side for nearly two hours, speaking civilly when necessary, but with a veiled hostility hanging in the air. I could sense him competing with me, trying to show me up. And I was sure I was right about him being after my job. Maybe he had wanted my body first, but his frustration had turned into determination to undermine me.

Bruce came by at one point, laughing when he saw me.

"I knew you couldn't stay away," he laughed, giving me a one-handed hug. "We've missed you around here, you know. This place needs you."

As the work wound down, so did I. Perspective was returning with each slice of the knife. I had behaved ridiculously this morning and Edward didn't deserve that. Especially on the day of his big interview.

And I wasn't going to listen to the jealous, petty ugliness James had spouted. Edward may have a questionable history with commitment, but didn't that prove he wasn't the cheating type? If he was, he would have had the long term relationships and just, well, cheated on them.

When I finally left Beck's, I called Edward's cell number, but there was no answer. I assumed he was still meeting with Francke. I decided to drive over to the offices, since I knew they were fairly close by, and try him again. I was hoping to catch him to take him out to lunch and find out how things went.

What I caught instead was the sight of Edward standing outside the modern-meets-Federal brick and glass high-rise talking animatedly to a very attractive blonde in a perfectly tailored, short-skirted suit and three inch heels. As I watched from the parking lot, she touched him no less than six times. She laughed and touched his crossed forearms. She leaned in attentively as she tucked her hair behind her ear and then rubbed his shoulder playfully. It went on and on and he made no move to step back or end the conversation.

A sickening wave of jealousy rolled over me, shocking me senseless. I have never been a jealous person. I always figured if I truly loved someone, I trusted them, and if they betrayed that trust, then the relationship was over anyway, so why bother being jealous?

But now, I found myself wondering if Edward would call her sugar when he made love to her. If he would look at her like she was the only thing on earth that mattered. Would he tell her he loved her and that he had never said that to any other woman? A mental image of the pretty blonde straddling him, her face a study in ecstasy, made my hands clench around the steering wheel in a death grip.

I had to get the hell away from there. I didn't want him to see me and start spinning explanations for me. After all, he really, he wasn't doing anything wrong. He was just standing there in broad daylight talking to a woman on the street. He didn't owe me any explanations for that.

And yet, everything I feared was confirmed in that moment. Edward was gorgeous and funny and charming and wealthy and accomplished. Women were going to throw themselves at him from time to time. Did I really believe I would be enough to prevent him from catching a few?

**Edward's POV**

Tom Francke's reputation as an eccentric is well-earned. I was shown into his office promptly at nine, but he wasn't in it. I waited patiently, content to look over the shelves and shelves of books that lined his office. Several bookcases were devoted to architecture and design, but there were sections of biographies, world histories, even some classic literature.

When the door finally popped open, I recognized Francke from any number of photos accompanying articles and books I had read. But unlike the mostly posed and professional photos, the real man was rumpled and awkward and wearing a mustard yellow dress shirt with tan chinos and a purple diamond-patterned tie.

"Does this tie go with this shirt?" he asked me peremptorily.

"Um, well, I…"

"I spilled something on the one I was wearing, so I borrowed my assistant's tie, so as not to appear unprofessional." He said all of this with a perfectly straight face, so I wasn't sure whether to laugh or not. "How am I doing so far?"

"Um, very professional," I answered lightly, holding out my hand. "Edward Cullen. Thanks for agreeing to meet with me."

"Not at all," Francke said, stripping off the purple tie. He opened his office door and flung it out without looking. "Thanks Geoff!"

He shut the door again without waiting for a reply. "He spells it G-E-O-F-F. Every time I see it written down, I think 'Get Off!' I don't think he's gay, though." Again, totally straight-faced. He just looked at me steadily from behind mild gray eyes, his dark hair sticking up in a couple of odd angles, but mostly slicked back from his hawk-like face.

"Oh," I said brilliantly. "No, I…"

He waved me off as if excusing me from the need to comment.

"So why do you want to work for me, Mr. Cullen?" he asked suddenly.

I took a breath and bit back the urge to say, "Um."

"I wanted to become an architect because of my father who is a residential architect on Hilton Head in South Carolina. I've been working for him since I graduated college and it's been great. But, the last few years, I've been itching to try my hand at some larger projects with a little more scope for creativity. Public buildings like your Philadean Hall or the Hite Museum in Baltimore. I know I would have to work my way up to that, but—"

"More scope for creativity? Like creative license, you mean?" he asked with a direct, probing stare. I agreed.

"Well, those type of projects are few and far between Edward. Honestly the majority of what we do is so micro-managed and proscribed it makes you want to just hand the client a do-it-yourself blueprint software program and move on. The bigger the budget, the bigger the egos involved, believe me."

"I suppose that's true," I allowed, feeling a bit deflated.

"But when you do get a crack at one of those vanity projects—when they decide your name is enough to attach some importance to the building, no matter what monstrosity you come up with? Well, that _is_ a beautiful thing!" Francke cracked his first smile and I couldn't help grinning back.

We talked for nearly two hours in what felt more like a friendly chance encounter than a job interview. The man was fascinating and strange and very hard to read at times, but I loved every minute of it. Just as I was leaving, he had a final word for me.

"Edward, if you come to work here, you'll work like you never have before. We put in long hours and a lot of our projects are high-profile, high stress endeavors. How important is your personal life to you?"

I struggled for a moment. I wanted this job, but I wasn't going into it offering up all of my heart and soul just after I had offered them to Bella. "Very important, Tom." He told me early on to call him Tom. "But this job would be very important to me, too, and I would find a way to make both of them work."

He nodded at me thoughtfully, pursing his mouth. "Hmmm. Good answer. We'll be in touch with you within a week or two. It was nice to meet you Edward."

We shook hands and I left feeling elated and let down at the same time. A week or _two_? That was certainly vague. And was that really a good answer? Or should I have lied and said my personal life didn't matter at all?

As I walked out the front door of the building, a familiar feminine voice caught my attention.

"Edward Cullen! I don't believe it," Irina Something-or-other said. The attractive blonde hadn't changed much since college and I recognized her immediately.

"Irina! Wow, how are you? What are you doing here?" I asked although I was pretty sure I knew the answer.

"Same as you, I imagine. I'm interviewing with T.K. Francke. You just finish?" she asked, looking up at me with big wide eyes. I remember she always used to do that in school. She must've thought it showed off her big green eyes, but it really made her look frightened or a little demented.

I confirmed that I had and we talked for quite a while longer. I wasn't sure how to politely extricate myself from the exceedingly tedious conversation and she seemed reluctant to let me go. She took every opportunity to touch me and signal me that she was available and willing.

Finally, I glanced at my watch obviously, "Oh hey, I better go. My girlfriend is waiting for me."

"Oh? Yes, I guess you'd better then. It was so nice to see you again Edward. Best of luck," she leaned in and brushed her tits against my arm as she kissed me on the cheek.

"You too, Irina. Take care," I said, stepping back deliberately.

I grabbed a cab and headed back to Bella's place. I couldn't wait to tell her everything that had happened. Well, besides Irina. There was no reason to go into that inconsequential detail. And I didn't want to do anything to complicate Bella's already shaky belief in us.

**Bella's POV**

Instead of going home, I went to Alice's apartment and hung out with her and Jasper. Alice asked me twice what was wrong, but the second time I snapped at her that nothing was wrong, she let it drop. I suggested that Jasper call Edward and let him know he could come over if he wanted.

"You two aren't fighting?" Jasper asked, fighting a smile.

"No. Why would we be?" I demanded.

"Oh I don't know, darling. You show up here all pissed off and twitchy saying nothing's wrong, I automatically think something is wrong. Call it a hunch."

"Jasper, just call your friend," Alice admonished. In a stage whisper she added, "And find out what he did!"

"Alice! He didn't do anything! Nothing—"

"Is wrong. I know, I know. And I'm going to pretend I believe you until you're ready to talk about it," she said with a sympathetic smile.

**Edward's POV**

Jasper called my cell phone and let me babble about my interview for a few minutes before he came to the point. "Are you aware that you're in trouble?" he asked.

"What? How? What did I do?" I asked.

"No idea, son. But your girl is over here insisting everything is fine and it obviously is not. She wanted me to call you and tell you to come over here. If you want to," he emphasized the last part.

"If I want to? Like it doesn't matter?" I took a minute to think this through. "She's wearing me out, Jasper. She was fine last night and completely weird this morning and I was _asleep_ in between! What the hell?"

"I don't know. Just get over here and talk to her," Jasper advised.

"No," I took a deep breath. "I'm not playing these games. Put her on the phone."

Jasper whistled softly. "Your funeral, son. _Bella!__Bella, __he __wants __to __talk __to __you_."

I didn't give myself time to think about it. As soon as she answered, I started, " Bella, I've put myself out there for you. It's your turn. I'll be at your apartment like we agreed. If you want to talk to me, great. If not, I'll start packing to move to a hotel. But I'm not going to chase you all over town trying to guess what's going through your head."

"I don't recall asking you to," she said coldly.

"Oh, you did. You just did it in a backward way. It's your turn to give a little, sugar. I love you and I hope to see you soon." I hung up and made myself comfortable on her couch for what might be a really long wait.

I sat back in my airplane seat, ignoring the safety speech the flight attendant was giving, putting in my earbuds and cranking up the music. I knew Jasper wouldn't bother me. He was probably be glad not to have to listen to me. If I hadn't pushed…but I was sick of thinking through the what-ifs. The truth was that I was headed home, not knowing if I had a job with Tom Francke, and not knowing when I would see Bella again and what would happen when I did.

**A/N: Okay, let me have it! But remember, every relationship has its ups and downs and this story isn't near done. **


	16. Chapter 16 Get What You Need

**A/N: WOW! You people (many of you) are hard on poor Bella. Jeez! Cut the girl some slack. And no, he isn't going to dump her and show up on any of your doorsteps. If I could make that happen, he'd be showing up on _my_ doorstep! Besides, if he's so bloody perfect, then trust that he knows whether or not Bella is worth the trouble. **

**BTW, he is not perfect. Just really good. And man-pretty. Enjoy!**

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter Sixteen**

**Get What You Need**

**Edward's POV**

Jasper kept finding excuses to come into the living room, but he wouldn't just sit down and watch the game with me. Instead, he kept huffing out these quiet – but infinitely disapproving – breaths, casting me disparaging looks and generally making it clear that he had something to say that I wasn't going to like.

"What's your problem?" I finally asked at the commercial break.

"You have a date tonight," he accused.

I sighed a loud, and just as clearly irritated, sigh. "No, I don't. I'm having coffee with Christy, early, before she goes out with her _boyfriend_. I ran into her at the bank and we got to talking about… stuff. She thought she might be able to give me some insight that'll help with the Bella situation."

"What exactly is the Bella situation?" Jasper asked, still suspicious.

"I don't know. That's part of the problem. We're talking almost every night, but she doesn't want to talk about the future at all. We're just kind of in limbo. I don't know what to do to get through to her."

"Well hell, Edward. Go ahead and give up on her then. She isn't making it easy on you and God knows everybody else always has."

I took a sip of my beer and counted to ten before I responded. "You're really starting to piss me off, _brother_. I didn't say anything about giving up, did I?"

"I can see it coming, Edward. You're frustrated that what you want isn't coming to you fast enough. So you'll chuck it and move on to something easier. You've never really had to _work_ for a relationship. Wouldn't you like to know what it feels like to get someone that meant enough to you to really work for her?"

I got up to throw my empty bottle away and grabbed my keys off the counter. "Jasper, I'm very happy for you that you've found the love of your life. But that doesn't make you an expert on every relationship. I'm doing everything I can to make things work with Bella, but you need to stay the hell out of it."

I stormed out the door without waiting for a reply. I'd heard about enough from him lately. And I suspected that there was some truth in what he said which pissed me off. I wasn't giving up on Bella, but that was because I had thought about it and rejected the idea. As much as her reticence was driving me insane, I couldn't imagine just letting her go.

But it was a foreign feeling to be at someone's mercy this way. Usually, I was the one to decide when to stay and when to go. And it wasn't just Bella. I was on the hook waiting for some word from Tom Francke, too. Another first.

I had never noticed before how much I liked to be in control and just how very much it bugged me not to be.

Just yesterday, my mom had accused me of being touchy and less than pleasant to be around. And my dad chimed in that my face was going to freeze like that if I didn't stop scowling. I hadn't even realized I was doing it.

I just couldn't stop thinking about how I had handled things with Bella and what I should have, or shouldn't have, done.

That afternoon after I hung up the phone, Bella got back to her apartment a lot faster than I ever expected. When I heard her keys in the door, I shot up off the couch and stood awkwardly for a moment before sitting back down and trying not to look guilty.

She dropped her things on the table next to the door and came to stand in front of me with her arms crossed. If I wanted her to lose the hesitancy and insecurity, I had certainly accomplished my goal. She didn't look anything but pissed off.

"It's my turn to give a little? What do you think I've been _doing_? I took off of work, I've spent every waking moment with you, and I took you to meet my parents! It's nice to know that's nothing to you, because it meant a lot to _me_!" she was almost yelling by the end.

I stood again, surprised to feel the surge of anger that shot through me. "You went into work today! And _Alice_ suggested the visit to your parents; you just went along with it. And as for spending every waking moment with me, we spent the majority of that time going at it like rabbits – and I didn't hear you complaining!"

"And you were? You were trying really hard to talk to me about your 'parade of women', but I just kept distracting you with sex? Why are you being such a jerk all of a sudden?" She actually pushed me. Not hard enough to move me at all, but still. I grabbed her arms.

"I'm not being a jerk just because I won't let you _jerk_ me around anymore! I want you to start meeting me halfway, Bella!"

"All of this just because I wanted you to come over to Alice's instead of meeting you here?"

"No! It's because you bolted out of here this morning, and then you went to Alice's and asked Jasper to call me and tell me I could come over there _if__I__wanted__to_. What are we, fifteen? What did I do?" I took her shoulders and pulled her closer. Her hands closed over mine.

"Nothing! I just –" she stopped and I could see her turning something over in her mind.

"Just say it! What? What are you thinking?" I kept a firm hold on her until she relaxed against me. I sat down on the couch and tugged her down beside me, waiting for her to start talking.

"I came to Francke's office today to see if I could catch you and take you out to lunch," she started hesitantly, the fight going out of her. "I felt bad about this morning."

"I saw that you called around one, but I had my phone off for the interview," I told her. "I tried to call you back after that."

"That's okay, it wasn't that. You were, um, talking to someone outside the office building. I just didn't want to interrupt, in case it was a colleague or something."

Ah. Now things were starting to take a recognizable shape. "Really, Bella? What bothered you was thinking you might be interrupting a professional conversation?"

Her face flushed and her jaw clenched stubbornly. "What do you want me to say, Edward?"

"You don't have to say anything. But if you were suspicious, I wouldn't blame you. Irina has never been subtle," I admitted.

"Irina. You knew her before?"

"I went to college with her and I've run into her a couple of times since then; once at an alumni dinner, once at a professional conference in Miami. And then today, she was interviewing for the same position I was," I shrugged. Bella just nodded, looking at her feet. "I'm going to go ahead and answer the questions I think you want to ask. No, I never slept with her. No, I don't want to sleep with her. Yes, I'm pretty sure she would sleep with me."

"Jeez. Humble, aren't we?" Bella cast me a sidelong glance and a small smile.

I laughed. "Well hell, sugar. Like I said, subtle she is not and never was. But everything she does seems like an act and I hate that." I sat back more comfortably on the couch, facing her with one leg crooked beneath me. "That's one of the things that I love about you, Bella. You hardly seem to realize you're doing most of the things that drive me crazy."

"Edward…"

"What?"

"You're doing it again. Your voice is dripping sex and you're looking at me like you want to eat me," she smiled and blushed.

"Well…"

"We need to have a complete conversation, beginning to end, even if it goes somewhere uncomfortable. Don't you think?" she asked, looking me square in the eye.

I sighed and nodded. "That's my line, isn't it? I guess we've both been avoiding this… I swear I'm afraid of what you're going to say, though. I can feel you pulling away from me."

Bella leaned her head back against the couch, closing her eyes and stretching her feet out to rest on the coffee table. "I'm not. I mean, I don't mean to. I'm scared, too. There's a part of me that really loves that I'm your first… love, I guess? But," she opened her eyes and turned to look at me, "that really scares me, too. Most people our age have had at least a couple of serious relationships that helped them grow up and learn about themselves. Maybe that's all I'll be for you."

"Did Sam help you? It seems to me all he did was hurt you and screw me over, because I have to pay for his mistakes." It came out rude and defensive and I regretted it. "I'm sorry. That was –"

"Mean, but somewhat true, I guess. I'm not trying to make you pay for anything, Edward. I'm trying to figure out how to give you what you need and still get what I need."

That intrigued me. "What _do_ you need? Because I want to give it to you."

"Urgh! I knew you were going to ask that. I… I know it's not realistic, but I want a guarantee. I want to know everything is going to turn out good… or at least survivable."

I reached out and touched her cheek. "Of course it'll be survivable, no matter what. You're stronger than that, Bella. But I'd really like to aim higher than survivable. If I could give you a guarantee, I would. But you wouldn't believe in it anyway."

She shook her head 'no' in agreement.

"So can't you take my promise that my intention is to be with you and that I really, sincerely, am in love with you?" I asked her.

She nodded but her furrowed brow said otherwise. "It's just – okay, you never had any interest in Irina. But what if you did? Or what if it was someone new that you were deeply attracted to? You've never been in a position where you had to say no to someone you really wanted, have you?"

"I guess not, really," I admitted uncomfortably.

"So, how do you know you could do that? What would you do? And what if it turns out you fall harder for someone else?"

"Whoa! Slow down please. First of all, I'm not some indiscriminant whore that can't control myself," I laughed lightly. "And, Bella, I can't possibly imagine falling for anyone harder than I have for you. But life doesn't come with guarantees. You're going to have to take a leap of faith sometime. I guess the question for you is; am I worth it to you?"

"You know you are," she murmured, touching my thigh and then drawing her hand back.

"I don't know that unless you tell me. You seem to think I can read your mind and I absolutely can't. I need to hear from you."

"You don't ask for much," she laughed softly, "Just blind faith and full disclosure."

"Not blind faith. I'm trying to give you as much as I'm asking for. I just want a little reassurance, too." I closed one of my hands over hers and used the other to tip her face up to meet my eyes again. "You make me feel like I'm trying to lead you to slaughter. Is it that bad to hear that I love you? You don't have to say it back."

She started to laugh again quietly, as tears sprang up at the corners of her eyes and slid down her cheeks rapidly. "No, it's not bad at all. I'm crazy about you, Edward. But I feel like, if I can't move as fast as you are, I'll lose you."

I sighed and kissed her trembling lips. "Please don't cry. You're not going to lose me. I said I could give you time and I then I started pushing right away. All I need to know is that you don't want me to get lost."

Shaking her head no, she swiped at the tears. "Maybe it seems that way sometimes, but I don't want you to get lost. That's the last thing I want."

She kissed me back, cupping her hand around my neck and holding my face to hers. Her hand wove into my hair, scratching gently against my scalp. For the longest time, we stayed that way, sitting several inches apart, leaning into another, just kissing without a sense of urgency. I thought to myself that we hadn't done nearly enough of this in the last week. Not that I regretted what we _had_ done, but it didn't always have to be about getting naked as fast as possible.

Bella was the one to take things further when she was ready. Not breaking the kiss, she climbed onto my lap, straddling me. Her hands began to roam over my face and neck, down my shoulders to my chest. I took it as permission to move my hands to her hips and pull her snugly against me. I didn't push against her or try to rush her.

Finally, she murmured in my ear, "Take me to bed, Edward."

"Are we done talking?" I smiled, my lips against her neck.

"For now," she sighed. She kissed my shoulder and then bit the same spot gently. "I'm sorry I was jealous," she said even quieter.

I stood up, lifting her with her arms and legs around me, and carried her to the bedroom. "I'm not," I assured her, as I laid her on the bed. "In fact, that really turns me on."

"Oh, does it?" she asked with the hint of a playful smile.

I lay down beside her, on my side, and began to unbutton her shirt. "Well, not usually, but with you? Yes, it turns me on to know you don't want other women touching me."

An odd look came over her face, but then it passed and she smiled for real. "And I suppose the idea of another man touching me doesn't bother you at all?"

I growled, half-kidding, but I could feel a surge of anger shoot through me at the thought. I had her shirt open now and I pushed her bra up so I could palm her breast. "I don't like that thought even one little bit, sugar."

Closing my mouth over her, I tongued her nipple, making her arch and gasp. "No!" she said, shaking her head and holding mine where it was. I took it to mean she didn't like the idea of being with any other man, either.

"Just me, right?" I whispered. She moaned her agreement.

I pulled her to sit up and stripped the shirt and bra off. I pushed her gently back and slipped her flirty cotton skirt down her legs and dropped it on the floor.

"Mmmm, I like these," I told her, hooking my forefingers into the bands of blue satin that held her panties on her hips.

She laughed and I stopped to look up at her questioningly. "I hate them," she giggled. "They're ridiculously uncomfortable. But I knew you would like them."

I tugged them off and slingshot them across the room. "Burn 'em, sugar! You don't have to wear uncomfortable underwear for me. In fact, you don't have to wear any at all."

She sat up again. "Good to know you're so understanding and thoughtful." She grabbed the hem of my shirt and whisked it over my head. "Pants off, please."

"Bossy," I teased affectionately. But I obeyed.

When I lowered myself back to the bed on top of her, but holding most of my weight on my forearms, Bella looked into my eyes searchingly for a long, full moment. I didn't know what she was looking for and I didn't want to ask and ruin the moment.

Finally, she pushed herself up on her elbows and kissed me again. The whole night stretched out before us. There was no rush, no reason not to savor every moment this time. When I entered her, she wrapped her legs around me, keeping me close to her. My grandfather's dog tags – which I had worn to the interview for luck and never took off – hung down from my neck and pooled between her breasts. She shivered at the touch of momentarily cold metal, before her body heat warmed it up.

As we moved together, I couldn't take my eyes from hers and she didn't look away from me.

"I do, you know," she breathed quietly.

It took me a moment, but I realized she was telling me that she loved me in the way that she could for now.

I shook my head, grinning so hard it hurt my cheeks. "No, I didn't know. Thank you," I said, kissing her hard. "I love you, too."

The next day and a half was the best of the trip. Bella never did come out and say 'I love you', but she showed it in a lot of different ways, and she stopped holding back on me so much. I wouldn't say she was no longer afraid, just that she was trying hard not to let it interfere.

And then I had to get on that damn plane and all I could think about was when I could see her again. Both of our work schedules were packed and we had both burned up a lot of vacation time. There was Jasper and Alice's wedding to look forward to, but they hadn't even set the date, yet. And there was the possibility of the job with Francke & Associates, but who knew?

I was scared now, that Bella would change her mind, or the fear would come back and grow stronger with the distance between us. Even if I got the job with Francke and moved to Seattle, who's to say she wouldn't have gotten cold feet and moved on by then? I knew that asshole James wanted her – she told me what happened in the walk-in. And Sam obviously had all kinds of issues surrounding her and I suspected one of them was that he still had feelings for her, whether he admitted it or not. And who knew who else she might meet while I was an entire country away?

I had come clean with her about my dating history. I knew it was the right thing to do, but now I was worried she would replay that conversation in her head over and over and decide I wasn't worth the risk.

I was in a thoroughly irritable mood by the time we boarded the plane and Jasper was about sick of listening to me. So I put on some music and let it block out the world, except for me and Bella.

As it turned out, I was right to worry, at least a little. Since I got home, we talked on the phone at some point nearly every day, although it was difficult with the three hour time difference. But almost immediately, there was a distance that had nothing to do with miles.

Bella told me everything about work and Alice and Emmett and Rosalie and her parents. She told me funny stories and things that aggravated her or made her sad. She said she missed me. She asked all about me and my family and friends. But she didn't want to talk about the future. When I tried, she listened, but eventually ended the conversation with some variation of "Let's just wait and see. There's no need to go into all of that now."

I set up a Skype account and had her do the same so we could see each other, thinking it would make the separation easier. But it had the opposite effect. Seeing her, but not being able to touch her and hold her, only made me feel the distance more acutely. Especially when one of us was having a tough day.

When I ran to the bank one morning and saw Christy, the one ex I had probably come the closest to a commitment with, we got to talking. She told me about her long-term boyfriend, Stan, and I told her about Bella.

"Let me guess," Christy rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "She wants a commitment and you're just not sure…"

"Actually no, Ms. Smartypants, this time the shoe's on the other foot. I'd marry that girl tomorrow and she's not sure."

Christy looked like I had just announced I was about to sprout wings and fly across the ocean. "Wow. Just… wow, Edward. I'm fighting the conflicting urges to console you and laugh hysterically at the irony."

I tried to smile at the joke, but it came off more like a pained grimace. That's when she suggested we meet for coffee early in the evening on Friday to talk more.

"Maybe I can help. I've had some experience in trying to move a relationship to the next level. At the very least, maybe I can offer some advice on what not to do and when to call it quits," she smiled in honest commiseration.

"I won't be calling it quits," I assured her. "She may, but I won't."

"Oh boy, you've got it bad. Well, I'm sorry for you and happy for you at the same time, sweetie. I'll see you Friday at five thirty."

So now I was on my way to meet Christy and maybe get some helpful insight, but Jasper was convinced I was going on a date and blowing off Bella. My parents were sick of my attitude and to top it all off, the next day would make it two full weeks since my interview and I hadn't heard a word from Tom Francke. I couldn't win these days, so what did I have to lose but meeting an old friend for coffee?

**A/N: Surprise! (Hopefully!) They didn't break-up or leave on bad terms. He was just all pissy because he was already missing her. He really doesn't know much about committed relationships if her thinks having coffee with the ex is a good idea, does he? :D**


	17. Chapter 17 Yes! Yes! Oh God Yes!

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter 17**

**Yes! Yes! Oh god, yes!**

**Edward's POV**

Bella… Bella was finally back in my bed, where she belonged. She was sound asleep, just like that first night, but I was wide awake and drinking in the sight. Instead of being curled up on her side in a nightshirt, this time she was sprawled confidently on her back, buck naked. One hand rested on her smooth abdomen, the other bent above her head. Her right leg was stretched out straight, while the left was crooked at the knee, the sole of her foot resting against her calf like a ballerina. Her hair was spread across the white pillow and her sweet, sleeping face was the epitome of innocent sensuality.

I couldn't help myself and I didn't try. I fitted myself to her form, laying alongside her and exploring her soft, warm curves. I smoothed her hair back from her face and brought my lips to her throat, pressing against the beating pulse point there.

She moaned, stretching sensuously and entangling her long, silky legs with mine. God in heaven, I wanted this so much. Her sleep clouded eyes found my face and she smiled drowsily before she moved to claim my mouth. Bella took my hand and guided it to her breast, keeping her hand clasped over mine as I cupped her roughly.

I needed this, needed her, needed to touch her. I ran my hand lower, skimming her stomach and making her breakout in gooseflesh, down to hold one hip and squeeze gently.

"Edward," she breathed against my ear as I looked down to watch my hand slide between her legs. I groaned loudly, not bothering to try to stifle the noise. It echoed through the room, oddly distant sounding. Something wasn't right.

My eyes popped open only to be met with the muted light of the moonlit sky coming in through my windows. I was in my bed, clutching a pillow to my naked body, painfully hard, and completely alone. It all came rushing back to me. I've always had fairly vivid dreams, almost as if I never went to sleep at all, but they were definitely getting more vivid, more erotic, and much more frequent since Bella came into my life.

Bella, of course, was in Seattle, probably still at work. I shifted to look at the alarm clock on my bedside table; one forty-five a.m. No, she was probably home by now. Wait. It was three hours earlier in Seattle, so it was only eleven forty-five p.m. — what the hell was I doing math for? Bella was not in my bed, where she belonged. That's all that really mattered.

I saw her earlier today, though, on Skype, which is probably what brought on this pubescent almost-wet dream.

Turning onto my back, I took matters into my own hand, because what choice did I really have? I closed my eyes and replayed the scene from early this morning in my mind.

I waited as long as I could stand. It was seven-thirty a.m. my time, which meant it was four-thirty where she was. I knew she would just be getting up to head out to the supply markets, and I had to catch her before she left. I couldn't wait hours to tell her what I had done and know what her reaction was going to be.

As soon as she answered the phone, I knew I had miscalculated. She had been sound asleep and sounded groggy and disoriented.

"I'm so sorry, Bella, I thought you would be awake by now," I apologized.

"Edward!" she sounded very pleased. "No, 'sokay. I'm not doing the morning market 'nymore."

"You're not?" I was surprised and intrigued.

Bella sighed and I heard the rustling of her covers as she shifted in bed. "It was stupid anyway. Bart's perfectly capable. I was just being a control freak," she paused a moment. "I'm going to be trying really hard not to be such a control freak."

"What brought this on?" I asked.

"Um. Emmett, I guess. He – well, we – had an interesting talk the other day. It's a long story. I'll tell you later, okay? Tell me why you called so early?"

Shit. The reason I called. I had forgotten to be worried when I heard her voice. "Are you sure? I could call you back later."

"I still have to be at work by seven, to help off-load the trucks and check the supplies in before prep. Now's a good time. Besides, I'd just lay here and miss you and wonder what you called for."

I hesitated. "Sugar, could you open your Skype account? I need to see you."

"Sure." I heard her moving around and the familiar start up noises of her laptop. "Just hold on a minute… is everything okay? You sound stressed out or something."

"No. Yeah, I'm fine, I just—"

"Here we are," Bella interrupted. As she spoke, her image came up on my computer screen. She sat on the end of her rumpled bed, wearing a pair of pink cotton sleep shorts and her dark gray t-shirt with the white cartoon bunny on it. She looked sleepy and disheveled and gut-wrenchingly adorable.

She self-consciously finger-combed her hair for a moment, and then clasped her hands in her lap as she brought her legs up to sit Indian style.

"Hi," she said, smiling big and blushing a little.

"Hi," I answered softly. I was thinking how good it was to see her, and how it was going to kill me if my next words hurt her.

"Bella, I think I messed up," I said, needing to get it out in the open. If the worst was going to happen, I needed to get it over with.

I looked up at the screen and saw her looking at me, waiting. Her face was now tense, but she said nothing and didn't move.

"I was worried about the way you've been since I left. I didn't think it would be any big deal for me to… but I think maybe it is. And… everybody else seems to think it is," I babbled nervously.

"You realize I have no idea what you're talking about," said Bella when I stopped abruptly, struggling for words. She smiled slightly, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Just tell me, okay?"

I nodded, forcing myself to look directly in the camera. The thing I really hated about video conferencing was that I couldn't really look into her eyes. If I did, it looked to her like I was looking down. If I looked into the camera, it looked to her like I was looking in her eyes, but I wasn't.

"I had coffee with my ex-girlfriend. You remember I told you about Christy Greenlee?"

Bella nodded and took a deep breath. "Oh?"

"It wasn't a date or anything. She's in a serious relationship and even if she wasn't, Bella, I love _you_. Look, I ran into Christy at the bank. We've stayed friends to some degree, and we started talking and I told her about you, and how I was doing everything wrong. She offered to sit down and talk and see if she could help," I explained lamely.

Bella moved impatiently as I spoke, and swept her hair back from her face. She put her feet on the floor and leaned forward. It looked like she was staring intently right at me, so I knew she was looking at the camera. "Edward, you listen to me now, okay?" she said intensely.

"Okay," I answered, steeling myself.

"If you're this afraid to tell me you had coffee with someone, even your ex-girlfriend, especially with the intention of trying to 'fix' things with me, well, then I'm the one who's doing the wrong thing."

"I don't think that, Bella. I understand where you're coming from, I just get impatient—"

She threw her hands up at that. "Good! You're impatient for me to love you as openly as you love me! I've been holding back, thinking you'll change your mind or meet someone else, and meanwhile you feel guilty for having coffee with someone, even though it was perfectly innocent—"

"I should've told you before I—"

"Edward, stop, okay? I'm trying to tell you something."

I stopped and motioned for her to go ahead. I would've given anything to be able to step through that stupid, flat, impersonal screen and hold her.

She took a deep breath and held it a moment before blowing it out. "I trust you. And I love you, Edward. If you move here, or if – whatever needs to happen, I want to be with you."

I let out a staggering breath I hadn't even realized I was holding in and just stared at her beautiful, expectant face.

"Edward? Say something. Please?" she prompted.

A ridiculously huge smile stretched across my stupid face. "You said you love me. You've never said that before."

She had danced around it, implied it, suggested that it was true, but not once had she come out and said it and it felt like the beginning of something monumental.

"I love you, Edward," she repeated loud and clear.

I started laughing in spite of myself. "You kill me, sugar. I've been in hell thinking you were going to hate me for going out with Christy. Jasper was pissed at me. Christy told me I was a dumbass for not telling you I was meeting up with her beforehand. But no—you're fine with it and you love me and trust me and want to be with me."

"That about sums it up. You know, everyone else in my life thinks I'm pathologically predictable," she informed me with a smug little smirk.

"Not me, love. I give up even trying to guess what you'll do next. And by the way, I love you, too. You have no idea how much I want to kiss you right now," I told her, shaking my head.

"Come back to Seattle," she sighed, leaning toward the screen.

"Come to Hilton Head," I countered, feeling a rush of adrenaline course through me.

"I would if I could. I'd be on a plane tonight if it wasn't for work."

"Me too. I used to love my job, you know. Before I discovered my true calling." I watched her shift and lean back on the bed, propping herself on her hands stretched out behind her, looking deceptively casual. I knew it was an act, though, because her face was flaming all the way to the tips of her delicate ears.

"And what is your true calling?" she teased.

"Making love to you, sugar. I thought you would know that by now."

**Bella's POV**

That voice should be illegal. Maybe I should be worried that every emotional conversation we have turns into a sex fest, but I'm trying hard not to worry so much. It's not like the love isn't there, too.

When Edward left to go home to South Carolina, I promised myself I wasn't going to let the doubt creep back in, but I did. Of course I did. I was already having trouble having faith with Edward here to hold me and reassure me. Once he was a couple of thousand miles away, I was struggling. And my way to handle stress, as always, is to throw myself into work and avoid thinking about whatever is scary.

But James was irritating the crap out of me at work. Bruce was almost annoyingly present in a way that he hasn't been in quite a while. Alice was brimming over with wedding plans and the details of her upcoming move to Hilton Head. And Rosalie was taking every opportunity to tease me about the sex I was no longer having.

Emmett had been surprisingly quiet during this two week period, which is why I had a sinking feeling when he showed up at the restaurant one afternoon to see if I could take a lunch break with him.

I never stay at Beck's for lunch. Otherwise, I'd end up getting pulled back into the kitchen for one crisis or another. I work strictly prep and dinner services. The lunchtime pace and crowd hold no appeal for me and I have enough seniority not to have to do it.

So Emmett insisted on his favorite neighborhood chain restaurant, where he could gorge himself on chilidogs while I tried not to gag. Their onion rings were damn good, though, so I made do.

"How're things going?" Emmett started, once we were seated on the molded plastic chairs with our food-like substances before us.

"How about if you just go ahead and throw in your two cents worth now, and spare me the small talk?" I answered testily.

"Don't be a bitch, Bells. I just wanted to talk to you. Is that allowed, oh supreme ruler of the universe?"

"What is that supposed to mean? I'm bossy? I have to have everything my way? You need some new material."

Emmett sighed and wiped his mouth on his napkin. "Can we start over? I don't want to fight with you, Bella. I just want to know that you're okay. I figured Eddie leaving might be hard on you…"

I bit back a flippant response and tried to relax. "_Edward_. And sorry, maybe I am on edge. Everybody wants to tell me what to do about Edward, and when to do it. I thought you were, too."

"Even if I was, I wouldn't expect you to do it. I know you better than that. You don't do anything until you're damn well good and ready," he grinned and nudged my shoulder affectionately.

We ate in comfortable silence for a moment.

"Am I really that inflexible?" I finally asked.

Emmett hesitated and then nodded. "Yeah. Sorry, but you are. But that's why you've done so well for yourself, Bella. You're the most determined, focused, and dedicated person I know."

"I'm rigid and inflexible," I said, knowing it was true.

"You have been, yes. But look at everything you did for Edward; taking time off work, letting him… stay with you unexpectedly. I mean, that's huge. For you."

"That wasn't anything. That was what I wanted. I couldn't do what he really wanted," I admitted, losing my appetite.

Emmett flinched and grimaced. "I don't want to know about that stuff!"

"Nothing like that, you pervert! I mean – okay, I'm going to tell you this because you're being really decent right now. Don't make me regret it."

Emmett gestured impatiently for me to get on with it.

"I couldn't tell him I love him, even though he told me repeatedly," I said quietly. I watched my brother's face register surprise, alarm, uncertainty.

"Well, you haven't known each other very long. If you don't feel it yet, you _shouldn't_ say it."

"I do feel it," I insisted hotly. "I love him. I love Edward. I can tell you that, so why can't I tell him?"

He shifted uncomfortably, contemplating his remaining lunch intently. "You know why. It would've been tough for you to be that spontaneous no matter what, but Sam – I know, I know, and I won't say anything else about him. But the bottom line is, if you do really love Edward—_a__lready, _even though it's way too soon—you're taking a huge risk keeping it to yourself while he's thousands of miles away."

I sat thunderstruck, staring at my big, muscle-headed, easy-going lunk of a brother. I never once thought of it that way. Edward told me I was going to have to take a big leap of faith eventually, if I wanted us to have a chance together, and I'd joined him on the ledge. But he jumped across and I had been standing there ever since, trying to will myself to follow him. But maybe just standing there was a much bigger risk. If I jumped, at least there was a chance we would make it. If I didn't, then it was already over.

Back at work that night, I was on autopilot. I called Edward's cell phone when I got home from lunch, but he was out on a building site and we couldn't really talk. The next time we would really be able to talk was probably not for two days, when I had a scheduled night off. Frustrated, but excited with the new sense of resolve that was building inside me, I went to work that evening.

Service was fine and the food was consistently good, if I do say so myself. Everyone on the line seemed to be in a particularly good mood – even James. For once, I didn't mind that they kept bumping up the volume on the radio. The rhythm helped me keep pace with the work, while my mind worked on what I wanted to say to Edward, and what I was willing to do to be with him.

As the last desserts went out, courtesy of Angela and Ben, the best pastry chefs in Seattle, I set to work, clearing and wiping down my station in preparation for leaving for the night. James moved closer to me, under the pretense of reaching for the plastic wrap.

"Bella, can I talk to you privately before you leave?" he muttered quietly.

"About work?" I asked warily, but equally quiet.

He looked uncomfortable. "Not exactly, but I'll be cool, I swear."

Against my better judgment, I agreed and when we were both finished, we walked out the back door together into the alley behind the restaurant, and around to the employee parking area. I stopped by the hood of my car and leaned against it, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I just wanted to make sure things are cool between us," James said in a rush, two dark spots of color appearing high on his cheekbones.

"Cool? I guess things are fine, James. It's been a little uncomfortable, but we're working together okay. Why? What's going on?"

"Nothing, I just felt kind of bad about what I said. You were right, that we always had a good time working together, and I'd like to go back to that." James was saying the right things, but something was making me doubt his sincerity.

Ultimately, I decided I didn't really care if he was sincere, or what brought on this sort-of-apology. It could only benefit me to eliminate a source of tension in the kitchen.

"I'd like that, too. We used to have a lot of fun working together," I reminded him, dropping my arms to my sides.

"Before you met that guy. Edward." He could see he was venturing into dangerous territory, so he quickly continued. "How are things going with him anyway? He still maybe moving here?"

"It's a possibility," I said shortly. "Well, I have to get going. Thanks for the talk."

"You, too. I'll see you tomorrow."

I moved to go around to the driver's side of my car, at the same time James stepped in front of me. Before I knew it, he had me in a full-contact embrace, and he held on for long enough that I pushed at his shoulders.

"Sorry," James smirked, not looking sorry at all. He walked away, hands in his pockets. He turned once and called back, "I'm glad we worked everything out. See you tomorrow!"

I got in my car and headed home, trying to figure out what James was up to. Because I had no doubt he was up to something. Finally, I pushed it to the back of my mind. I would deal with that if and when it became an issue. For now, I had bigger and better things to think about. I wanted to get home and call Edward, even if I had to wake him up just to tell him good night.

And if he was awake and ready to talk, maybe I could go ahead and tell him everything. No matter what, I was going to tell him I love him.

Only, Jasper answered the phone on the third ring, "H'llo?"

"Hi, Jasper. I'm so sorry I woke you up. I called Edward's cell, but it went straight to voicemail," I talked quietly as if that would wake him up less.

"Hey, hon. That's okay. Uh, yeah, I guess maybe Edward's not home yet," Jasper said hesitantly. "I'll go check."

"No! Don't get out of bed for that. Even if he's home, I'm sure he's asleep. I'll talk to him sometime tomorrow," I assured him.

"If you're sure," Jasper sighed. He sounded like he really wanted to go back to sleep.

"I'm sure," I promised. I felt a wave of giddiness wash over me. "We're going to have all the time in the world to talk."

"You sound excited about something."

"I am, I guess. Yeah. I love him Jasper. I want to be with him." Now that I was finally ready to say it, I couldn't seem to stop saying it.

There was a pause, and then Jasper's laugh and his warm drawl. "You and Ed are the only ones that had any doubt about that, honey."

I had to laugh. "I suppose so. How's it going to be if he moves here, Jasper? And Alice moves to be with you. All of us will never see each other."

"Borrowing trouble," Jasper admonished. "Have some faith, Bella. It'll all work out, one way or another."

"That's so _not_ my philosophy of life," I giggled like a teenager. "But I like it. I'll give it a try. Go back to sleep. I'll talk to Edward tomorrow."

"G'night, Bella. I'll tell him you called."

So I went to bed without talking to Edward, but I dreamt about him. More like my subconscious replayed my favorite memories of him as I slept. He was standing at his dresser, grinning crookedly at me as he took off his watch, and hung up his shirt. He was walking toward me on the beach, glowing in the intense sun. He was lying with me on the beach, his eyes lust-darkened, his mouth closing in on mine. He was standing across the pass from me in my kitchen, watching me with admiration and surprise. He was picking up a ringing phone…

Ringing phone? I sat up, groping for the lamp to turn it on, and then squinting against the light to find my phone. "Hello?"

"I'm so sorry, Bella, I thought you would be awake by now," Edward apologized.

And that brings us back to that voice. The one that ought to be illegal. The one that dropped two octaves a short time later when he said, "Making love to you, sugar. I thought you would know that by now."

"You do seem to have a natural gift in that area," I agreed, trying to keep a straight face.

"Isabella Marie Swan! Are you talking dirty to me?" He leaned back in his desk chair.

"There was nothing dirty about that," I protested. "I was simply agreeing that you may have found your true calling…in making me come." My face flamed bright red the second before I said it and I knew, by the delighted grin on his face, that Edward could see it plain and clear.

"You _are_ talking dirty to me! What has gotten into you, sweet girl?"

"I don't know, but I like it," I laughed. "I only wish I had time to do more than talk. I have to get in the shower if I'm going to make it to work."

He groaned playfully. "That's not nice; teasing me and then leaving me to imagine you in the shower, all wet and soapy."

The nerves in my stomach were jumping, and twitching, and sending all sorts of obscene signals to my lady parts. Over the last two weeks, Edward and I had talked a lot and teased a little, but that's as far as it had gone.

"Imagine? Why do you have to imagine?" I leaned in a little, so he could only see my face. "You've had me in the shower, _remember_?"

"_Bel_-la! That's not nice, sugar. If you have to go, who's going to take care of _this_?" he indicated the very noticeable bulge in his sweatpants.

"Impressive, as always," I laughed. "But whether I have to go or not, you still have to take care of it," I sighed. "I wish you were here. Any word from Francke?"

Edward rolled his eyes in frustration. "No, but I'm calling his crazy, slack ass tomorrow. If I do have a job, I'll need to find a place to live, you know."

What? Wait. I just told him I loved him and wanted to be with him and he's already trying to maintain his _space_?

"Bella, what is that face about?" he asked in a stern voice.

"Nothing. I'll help you find a place here," I offered unenthusiastically.

"How about finding _us_ a place? Sweetheart, I don't want to live in the apartment you, more or less, shared with another man. Can we find a place that would be ours alone?"

My mood pulled out of its nosedive and I smiled so hard my face hurt. "I think I can manage that."

"And how about not automatically assuming the worst, while you're at it?" he suggested.

"I'm working on it," I shrugged. "And Edward?"

"Yeah, sugar?" he cocked a wicked eyebrow at me and I had to go through with it.

"I can shower when I get home. Let's get dirty."

**A/N: So, Bella's taking the leap, Edward's job is still a question (that will be answered in the next chapter, I swear!), James is up to no good, Jasper did not (and would not ever) rat Edward out to Alice or Bella, and Bella did not fly down to HHI and "catch" Edward with Christy.**

**If you are still hating on Bella, I don't know what to say. I'm going to chalk it up to jealously, because you want Edward to dream dirty naked dreams about you instead. **

**As for the sexual frustration you may be feeling as a result of the interrupted and abbreviated lemons in this chapter—that's what long-distance relationships are like. I guess we better get them back in the same time zone pretty quickly!**


	18. Chapter 18 So Far Away From Me

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter 18**

**So Far Away From Me**

**Edward's POV**

I had to wait until noon to call Tom Francke's office. It was 9 a.m. Pacific time and I knew it was a long shot that Tom would be in the office and available, but still I was frustrated when he wasn't there. I tried back an hour later and then a half hour after that. I didn't want to leave a message and then sit around waiting for him to call for another two weeks. If he didn't want to hire me, I would be incredibly disappointed, but then I would move on and find another job, another way to be with Bella. But, one way or another, I wanted an answer today.

The fourth time I called at 3:40 my time, the receptionist put me on hold and a few moments later Tom picked up the phone.

"Edward. Took you long enough to decide to call, but once you did, you were damned persistent," he spoke mildly, as he had the day of the interview, but his words ignited a flame of irritation in me.

"This was a test," I said flatly, fighting the urge to add 'asshole'.

"Sort of. It's a good way to gauge an applicant's sense of urgency, propriety, self-interest, _persistence_, etcetera. I expected you to call a few days ago, but I realize the two weeks was up yesterday and I'll chalk it up to your Southern sense of manners. So, do you want to come to work for me?"

I was honestly speechless for a moment. I was torn between pissed off, elated and concerned. Yes, I wanted to work for Tom, but I didn't appreciate his little 'test' particularly, and I knew working for him was going to be a challenge, to say the least.

Ultimately there was only one answer though. I accepted and we talked salary and a timeline for me to complete or hand off the projects I was working on for my father's firm, get moved to Seattle and be ready to start. The final agreement gave me a month.

As soon as I hung up with Tom, I wanted to call Bella. I wanted to tell Jasper and my parents and my sister and her family, too, but before anyone else, I needed to tell Bella.

Checking my watch, I realized that it was nearly 8 p.m. in Seattle and she was once again at work. For the next half hour I debated with myself over whether to call Beck's and ask to speak with her. I had never called her at work. It was completely unprofessional. Immature. I could wait a few hours to call her. Or I could call her cell phone and leave her a message to call me as soon as she got done.

**Bella's POV **

"Telephone, chef!"

I glanced up to see if Bruce heard the page and realized the prep cook was looking at me.

"The office phone was ringing, so I answered. It's for you," he repeated as I stared blankly at him. No one ever called me at work in the middle of a dinner service.

"Bruce, I—"

"I got it covered," James interrupted. "Go ahead and take your call."

Bruce gave me a quick nod and turned to James to pick up where I was leaving off. I wondered if it irritated Bruce, hearing the staff calling me 'chef'. Generally, only the head chef is addressed that way in a kitchen, but because I had been the acting head chef so much of the time for so long, it had become habit among the staff.

I hurried to the office with an uneasy feeling that something must be very wrong for anyone to be calling me this way.

"Hello? This is Bella Swan," I said when I picked up the line.

"Bella, I'm sorry to bother you at work."

"Edward? Is everything okay? What's going on?" I felt my heart leap into my throat.

"Everything's fine. It's great. I shouldn't have called, but I talked to Tom just now," Edward was rushing through it now. "Bella, I got the job. I'll be in Seattle in a month."

I sat down suddenly in the butt-sprung office chair, before my legs gave out. "You're coming to Seattle?"

"Yep."

"You still want to get a place together?"

"Hell yes, sugar!"

"I can't believe it!. This is…everything. I love you, Edward," I told him, everything I felt for him welling up in my voice.

"I love you, too, sugar. Call me as soon as you get home, okay?"

I promised I would and went to wash my hands and get back to work, unable to wipe the smile off my face.

"Good news, Swan?" Bruce asked, noting my expression.

"I'm sorry about the personal call, chef. But, yeah, it was good news," I nodded happily. "Edward got his dream job and he's moving to Seattle in a month."

Bruce grinned at me and held up a hand for me to slap as I went by to my station. But when I glanced back at him, he looked lost in thought and I had no way of knowing what he was thinking. James gave me rundown of what was on order and which dishes were already working.

"Garnish is in the weeds, just so you know. I'll go lend a hand," James offered cheerfully.

"Thanks. And thanks for covering for me." At that point I was even feeling friendly toward James.

"No problem, Bella. And congratulations—I couldn't help overhearing. Your country boy is coming to town for real, huh?" He gave me a smirk that could possibly pass for a smile, so I just shrugged and nodded happily before diving into my work, ignoring the childish slight to Edward.

It was 1:11 a.m. when I knocked on Alice and Rosalie's door. I waited patiently for about thirty seconds before using my spare key to let myself in. Emmett was coming out of Rosalie's room in just his boxers, rubbing one hand over his face and adjusting himself with the other.

"Emmett! Ugh! I don't need to see that," I protested, shielding my eyes.

"Wha-? Bella?" he mumbled.

Alice and Rosalie came out of their respective rooms. Obviously, all of them had been sound asleep and I couldn't have been more proud of myself.

Alice went directly to the couch and collapsed on it, pulling the gold cotton throw blanket over her with an irritated groan.

"Bella, you better be on fire," Rosalie warned.

"Nope. Not on fire, everything's good. I have great news!"

"Great news can wait until morning," Alice grumbled from the couch.

"Think back, Sweet Alice, to all the times you showed up at my door at some ungodly hour of the morning, forcing me out of bed to go on one of your shopping expeditions. Consider this payback."

"Why do I have to suffer?" Rosalie demanded, sitting down on one of the dining room chairs.

"Ha! Half the time you were with her!" I reminded Rose.

"I didn't do anything," Emmett mumbled as he raided the refrigerator.

"Collateral damage, bro. Sorry," I laughed.

"Alright, alright!" Alice sat up and glared at me. Which would have been more effective if her hair wasn't standing up in the back like a rooster's butt feathers. "What's this great news?"

"Edward is moving to Seattle in a month. He got the job with Francke and we're moving in together."

Alice gasped. Rosalie laughed knowingly as if she had seen this coming all along. And Emmett choked on the orange juice he was swigging out of the carton.

"That's fucking awesome!" Alice screamed, launching herself at me.

"You'll be pregnant within six months," Rosalie grinned wickedly.

"Dad's gonna kill you," Emmett informed me.

I gave my brother as dismissive a look as I could muster with Alice clinging to me like a freaking spider monkey.

"I am 27 years old, Em. I think I can make my own decisions without Dad's consent."

"Sure you can. Just let me be there when you tell him," Emmett grinned.

The great search for the perfect place to live, _with Edward_, began the next day. Between that and work, I was too busy to think too much about the enormity of the way my life was about to change and that was definitely a good thing.

The first debate was whether we wanted an apartment or a house.

"House," Edward said decisively. We were Skyping again, in the late evening on my night off.

"Apartment," I said just as firmly. I adjusted my laptop screen to position the camera better and settled in to argue.

"Honey, come on. I can't live in a closed in little box. I need some space, a yard, something," he begged, giving me the full benefit of his green eyed gaze and pouty mouth.

"A yard that has to be mowed and weeded and all that. I got enough of that when I was growing up. When would either of us have the time?"

"I'll make time. Or we'll hire a service or something," Edward offered hopefully.

"Why not save the money? We could get an apartment near a nice open park," I countered.

"Okay, Bell, what's so great about apartments besides not having to mow the lawn?"

"I like the freedom to come and go without worrying about getting a house sitter, or asking someone to bring in the mail, or worrying about pipes bursting," I said quickly. And then far more quietly, I added, "And, you know…elevators."

Edward heard me loud and clear anyway. He laughed, but it was a throaty, sexy little laugh. "No matter where we live in Seattle, I'm sure we'll have plenty of chances to ride in elevators," he promised. "Lots of _different_ elevators."

"So you're looking for a lot of variety in your…elevators?" I teased.

He gave me a knowing little smirk and eye roll. "In my elevators? Yes. In my sex life? Yes. In my choice of partners? No way in hell, sugar."

I squirmed happily, ridiculously like a horny teenager. "Me neither. Or too. Or whatever you said."

Ultimately he won, as he always seemed to. I looked at seven apartments and four houses within a two week period, before a fifth house showing sealed the deal for me. I fell in love at first sight with a three bedroom craftsman-style bungalow on a shady, winding street. I used my phone to email the MLS listing with a video walk-through to Edward and he texted me back four words: "That's our home, sugar!"

And just like that, I had a live-in boyfriend, a shared mortgage, and a house.

Alice was with me at my place the morning the phone call came that our offer on the house had been accepted and she held the paper bag when I began to hyperventilate in preparation for my first-ever panic attack.

"Deep breaths, Bella. It's okay, I swear. You're doing the right thing. It's just scary right now," she murmured, smoothing my hair as she spoke.

"We could have (gasp) rented (wheeze). Can't believe (gasp) we're doing this (wheeze)."

"You want to back out? It's not too late, you know," the manipulative little minx said solemnly. She handed me the phone. "Just pull up the last number and hit send."

My breathing slowed as I glared at her in exasperation. "You know I don't want to back out."

"Then stop being such a drama queen and let's celebrate. I'll call Rose and Em and tell them to meet us at Rocco's for dinner tonight at eight."

I was still feeling a little light-headed and crazed, but I had to appreciate Alice's ability to give me some perspective.

"Fine, okay. That sounds good, but Alice, really, have I completely lost my mind?"

"Oh yeah," she said casually. "But in the best possible way. You know this."

I nodded against her shoulder as she pulled me into a big hug. "Call Edward, sweetie. Tell him the good news. Let him talk you down."

When I reached Edward on his cell phone, he told me he was in Jasper's SUV and they were headed down to Florida for a last surf trip before Edward moved. He was thrilled when I told him we got the house, but he also knew I was stressed just from my voice although I tried to hide it.

"Are you having cold feet?" he asked me understandingly.

"Just a little attack of nerves," I confessed. "I'm good, baby. I can't wait for you to get here, but I want you and Jasper to have a great time surfing. Just be careful, okay?"

"Don't worry, sugar. I'll be there in nine days with all my limbs intact," he promised. "_All_ of them."

"_Damn, son! I don't want to sit next to you while you have phone sex_!" I heard Jasper say in the background.

Edward sighed heavily. "Sorry, love. Jasper's phone-cockblocking me."

"Later then, surfer boy," I promised, trying to sound sultry. "Call me tonight."

"You better believe it," Edward said, laughter rumbling in his chest. "Midnight, your time. Clothing optional and heavily discouraged."

Rocco's is my favorite Italian restaurant and once again it did not disappoint. Dinner was fantastic and the conversation and red wine flowed freely. I looked around the table at my brother and my best friends, laughing and talking, as I imagined Edward and Jasper winding up a pleasantly exhausting afternoon of surfing and bonding. There were huge changes coming in all of our lives, but they were all good. Life was good. I was happy. And I was pretty damn sure it wasn't just because of the wine.

After dinner we walked down the street to Emmett's favorite club to go dancing. Emmett walked up to the door with his arms around Alice and Rosalie and Rosalie's arm around me. He smirked nauseatingly at the doorman who opened the door with an admiring nod.

"Damn, Emmett. What are you packing, dude?"

"A massive sense of chivalry and a big ass love of life, Sammy, my man." Emmett was walking with his chest thrown out like a great big douchebag, but I couldn't bring myself to throw cold water on his moment of glory. Alice went along, rubbing Emmett's chest seductively, while Rosalie generously fought the urge to roll her eyes.

Two hours later we were still dancing and carrying on when my cell phone rang. I slid it out of my jeans pocket and answered without checking the caller ID. I knew it was Edward.

"Sorry, love, we're still out at the club," I yelled in the phone.

"Bella?" a feminine voice came over the phone, sounding stressed and tearful.

"Oh. Sorry! Yes, this is Bella. Who is this?"

"Bella, honey, it's Esme. I have some bad news," she choked out.

Everything around me stopped for a moment and then began again, a thousand times louder and more frenetic. I pushed and shoved my way through the crowd, leaving Alice, Rose and Emmett to follow cluelessly in my wake. Once outside on the quiet sidewalk, I stared blankly at my friends as I spoke to Esme.

"Esme, what is it? I can hear you now."

"Edward and Ja—Jasper were surfing today down in Florida—"

"I know, I spoke to Edward this morning," I prompted.

"There was an unusually strong riptide…"

"Esme, please! Is Edward okay? Is Jasper?"

Alice let out a whimper and Emmett grabbed her shoulders to steady her.

"Edward called me from the hospital. He's pretty banged up, but he's okay. We don't know about Jasper yet, honey. We're on our way down to the hospital now. Jasper's in the ICU. He's on life support." Her voice dropped to a ragged low pitch, "It doesn't sound good."

Alice knew it was Jasper as soon as our eyes met. "Is he…?"

"No! No, Al. He's in the hospital. They got caught in a riptide."

"Let me talk to her, Bella. I tried to call her, too, but she didn't answer her cell phone."

"I don't think she has it with her," I said, wondering why the hell I was wasting time with these useless words. "Here she is."

I handed my phone to Alice. Emmett enveloped me in a bone-crushing hug. Rosalie stood with Alice, rubbing her back as she listened to Esme, responding minimally.

"Edward is going to be okay," I whispered to Emmett. "But they're not sure about Jasper…"

"He's gonna be fine," Emmett said authoritatively. "Alice doesn't deserve this on top of everything else!"

"Things don't happen to people because they deserve them, Emmett," I sighed.

I felt horribly guilty that, in the selfish part of my brain, I was grateful that it wasn't Edward on life support. I wished I could take Jasper's place to spare Alice the pain, but I couldn't wish Edward to take Jasper's place. I pushed away the immature, useless train of thought and tried to focus on what I could really do now.

"We'll need to get down there right away. Can you start calling for airline tickets?" I asked Emmett. He agreed without hesitation. As he was dialing, he moved away a little so he could hear better.

Finally, Alice hung up and pressed the phone into my hand. She looked into my eyes with a uncomprehending pleading. _Do something_, she seemed to be begging me. _I don't know what, but do something._

"Emmett is booking us the soonest possible flight, Ali. We'll be with them as fast as we can," I promised her.

"You'll come with me?" she asked, grabbing my hands.

"Of course! Of course I'm coming with you," I cried.

"But Edward is fine. He's fine. It's Jasss…" she trailed off and broke down into sobs, squeezing my hands so hard she was digging her fingernails into my palms.

"I'm coming with you, Alice," I reiterated firmly.

Rosalie flagged down a cab for us and we all piled in, Emmett still on the phone with the airlines.

We stopped at my apartment and I ran in and packed a few necessities as fast as humanly possible before we went on to Rose and Alice's place. Emmett got on the computer there and printed out our e-tickets. Rosalie packed for Alice while I called work.

One of the busboys answered. Todd, I think, or maybe Tom. I asked to speak to Bruce, but James came on the line a few minutes later. "Hey Bella. Chef is totally slammed. Can I give him a message?"

"Sure. Yeah, thanks. Listen, there's been an accident and I have to go down to Florida with Alice. I'll call you guys tomorrow with details to let you know when I'll be back."

"Is it your boyfriend?"

"No. Yes. I mean, he was hurt, too, but it's Alice's fiancé whose in really bad shape. I have to go with her."

"Of course you do. I'll cover for you. Don't worry about anything," James assured me confidently and sympathetically.

I felt a surge of gratitude for him and I thanked him profusely before hanging up.

Our flight left at 4:45 a.m. The wait at the airport felt interminable, but finally we were in the air and on our way. We had spoken with Esme twice and Carlisle once. There was still no change in Jasper's condition and Edward had been checked in and was heavily sedated because he refused to leave Jasper's room and had started going into shock once the adrenaline from their ordeal wore off.

The details of exactly what they had gone through were still fuzzy, but the life guards who had rescued them had told Carlisle that, if Jasper made it, Edward had certainly saved his life.

If Jasper made it.

That phrase kept ringing in my ears. Thank god Alice hadn't heard that part yet.

We spent the flight alternating between reassuring each other, crying on each other's shoulders and staring off into space too numb to feel.

When the plane finally touched down six hours later, we didn't need to go to baggage claim because we had carried on our small bags. We went straight to the curb, stepping into the blinding Florida sun, to hail a cab, only to find Carlisle there waiting for us.

The first thing out of his mouth before even 'hello' was, "Jasper's awake and breathing on his own!"

I'll always love him for that. He hugged Alice hard and then me and threw our bags in the trunk of his car as we got settled in. Alice cried quietly in the backseat for a few minutes before she finally passed out from exhaustion.

"Is Edward really okay, Carlisle?" I finally got to ask before we pulled into the hospital parking lot.

Carlisle laughed a strangled sort of laugh, before wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand. "He really is Bella. It's a miracle that either one of them is alive, much less both of them, but he is fine. He looks like he's been sandpapered, which I guess he basically has, and he's out cold from the sedatives they finally had to give him to get him to sleep, but he's going to be fine."

After hugging Esme and speaking for a few moments, we were taken to see Jasper. He was asleep again and he looked frighteningly colorless and motionless, but the nurse said he was doing very well, much better than they had hoped for so soon. She told Alice she would get her a pillow and a blanket if she wanted to sleep on the reclining chair by his side.

Esme next ushered me into Edward's room.

"Do you want to stay with him tonight?" she asked me kindly, knowing that I did.

"I'm surprised they'll let me, but of course I do," I said gratefully.

"We told them you and Alice are their wives," Esme confided with a wink. I blushed, but she pretended not to notice. "Carlisle and I are going to the hotel across the street. You'll call if there's any change or if you need anything, right?"

I assured her I would and clung to her for a moment when she hugged me again. We said good night and once the door closed behind her, I turned my full attention to my love, my boyfriend, my pretend husband.

Edward looked awful. He was battered and bruised and truly did look like he'd been 'sanded' in places. He's hair was stiff and crazy from the dried saltwater and he had a pained expression on his face. I didn't want to wake him or hurt him, but I needed to be near him. I kicked off my shoes and took off my jacket and lowered myself slowly and gingerly to the bed until I was lying beside him, facing him, without actually touching him.

Within moments he stirred and his arm slid over my hip, around my back and pulled me close up against him. I carefully turned so he was spooning me and let out a deep, wavering breath. A few more moments was all it took before I was sound asleep.

**A/N: If I were truly evil, as I am often accused of being, I would have left off with Jasper still on life support. But I'm only half-evil and you all (especially those who review ) are fully awesome! **


	19. Chapter 19 Riptide

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter 19**

**Riptide**

**Bella's POV**

Edward was holding me so tight I could hardly breathe, his forehead pressed against the back of my neck, his quiet sobs shaking both of us.

"Edward?" I whispered, immediately wide awake.

"I couldn't save him!" he choked out. He was obviously still floating in a drug-induced half-dream state.

I pushed on his arms so he would loosen his hold and I could turn and hold him. He winced once when I came in contact with one of the nasty shredded-looking places on one of his legs and I readjusted quickly. "Shhh. You did save him, baby. Jasper's going to be fine. He's off the life support and everything."

He just buried his head against my shoulder and cried harder, but still almost silently, for a few minutes. I was debating trying to reach the call button to get a nurse to bring more sedatives when he finally began to calm down and relax a little.

"He was hurt and bleeding and I was trying to pull him—I couldn't let go of him no matter what… I was so fucking, fucking tired!" The raw anguish in his voice was twisting in my chest like a knife. I knew better than to ask for details or clarifications now. He just needed to vent, let the pent up fear and anger and horror out. There would be time for the full story later when he was actually awake.

"I know, I know. You did great, Edward. The rescue team said you saved Jasper's life out there. And you held on, too. I don't know what I would have done…"

He moved closer, seeming to want to make sure we were touching at every point possible, no matter whether it was painful for him or not. With his head still resting on my shoulder he drifted back into his troubled sleep.

For a couple hours after I climbed into the hospital bed with him, Edward and I had slept hard and soundly. And then he had begun to moan and twitch from time to time, and murmur things I couldn't quite catch. I had tried to soothe him with my voice, I wanted to touch him, but I was already afraid of hurting all the rubbed-raw places on his skin—I just wanted him to know, at least subconsciously, that I was there. Finally, he had come to enough to tell me that little bit about what the ordeal had been like for him and it made me sick with fear and delirious with gratitude at the same time.

Between the total exhaustion and overwhelming emotion, I couldn't stay awake for long either.

**Edward's POV**

Some damn thing was beeping intermittently. My head was pounding and I felt just raw all over. I tried to shift to get more comfortable and that's when my eyes flew open. I hadn't been dreaming that Bella was with me. She was here, actually in my bed, holding me. Well, not my bed, but this godforsaken hospital bed.

I wanted to wake her and ask her what time it was, how long she had been here, but instead I just watched her sleep, running my fingers down the side of her face and into her hair, smoothing it back from her face. It was soothing and unnerving at the same time. Right here, under my hands, was everything I had gained since that one fateful night I came home to find her in my bed. And it could've all ended yesterday. I couldn't think about the way she would have hurt if I hadn't made it.

Her eyes opened slowly, focusing on my face gradually. Finally her face broke into the most beautiful smile.

"You're here," I said with quiet wonder.

"Of course," she agreed. She tried to tilt her head down, but I pushed gently under her chin to make her look up again.

"Ugh. Edward, my breath…"

"I'm sure mine is minty fresh," I teased. "I don't care."

She smiled and stretched up gently to give me a light, closed-mouth kiss on the lips.

"Bella, I—" I stopped abruptly and just stared at her, trying to figure out how on earth to tell her what I was feeling.

"What? What is it? Am I hurting you?" she started to move but I held her tight.

"No, you're not hurting me. I'm just trying to figure out how to tell you what it meant to me to wake up with you in my arms. When I was sitting by Jasper's bed, watching that machine breathe for him, I couldn't handle it. I couldn't think straight and all that I could focus on was how much I wished you were with me. I knew there was nothing you could do, I just needed _you_. But I couldn't walk away from him long enough to call and I couldn't seem to get it together enough to move at all—"

"Carlisle said you started going into shock then. The doctor had to have you sedated to give you time to recuperate," she told me.

I nodded. That made sense, but I had only a vague memory of it. "But then I wake up and here you are, like you just knew I needed you and you showed up."

"Your mom called me and Alice and we caught the first available flight. Alice is in with Jasper now as far as I know. Edward—Jasper woke up early this morning and began breathing on his own, too. They think he's going to be fine. You saved his life."

Relief like I have never known flooded through me at that. I leaned back a little, took a deep breath and let it out again. "I tried. All I can say is I kept his head above water as much as possible until the life guards got to us." I closed my eyes tight, rubbing one hand over my face. The memories of the time in the water after Jasper was hurt were too much to take in just yet.

"You want to talk about that later?" she asked. I nodded without opening my eyes. I loved that she understood without me having to ask.

After a few more minutes of soaking in the feeling of having Bella in my arms again, I sighed and moved to get up. "I have to go check on Jasper," I told her.

"You can't. I'll go check on him and come right back," she started to get up, but I shook my head.

"I can and I'm going to, Bella. I'm only in here for exhaustion and I'm wide awake now." I grinned at her. "Waking up in bed with you does that to me."

"Well, while I find the backless hospital gown quite appealing, I'd rather you didn't parade down the hall like that. Especially since you're going commando there," she playfully indicated my crotch.

"And how would you know that, Miss Swan? Were you being inappropriate with me while I was drugged?"

She shrugged and quirked an eyebrow at me alluringly. She moved as if she were going to get on top of me, holding her weight off with her arms. But at the last minute, she reached over and past me to grab the phone off the table beside the bed. She dialed the desk and asked for an update on Jasper Whitlock's condition. When she hung up, she lay back and grinned at me.

"He's stable and in fair condition. They've upgraded him even since Alice and I got here this morning."

"What time is it now?" I asked. My internal clock was completely out of whack and I had no idea.

Bella glanced at her watch. "Four twenty-three! Wow, we slept hard. Now listen. I'll bet your mom and dad are here somewhere and brought you a change of clothes. I'll go find them and then we'll get you dressed and go see Jasper, okay?"

"You're going to dress me? That's new." I looked at her meaningfully.

"Edward, you're lying in a hospital bed, all scraped up like you were dragged across the beach behind a horse. Are you seriously propositioning me?"

I sighed heavily. "I want to be, but honestly? I've got a serious case of sand burn going here. I'm afraid it might be…"

"Painful?" she supplied. I nodded. "Well, let's do this: We'll get you some clothes. We'll check on Jasper and Alice. We'll have something to eat. And in the meantime, I'll see if I can think up some kind of…miracle cure for your sand burn."

**Esme's POV**

My belief that Bella was the woman for Edward, was only reinforced as I talked to her on the phone the night of the accident. I don't believe it ever occurred to her to question whether or not she would come to Florida to be with Edward, even though I made it clear he was going to be fine.

She was distressed, obviously, but she took control and did what needed to be done to get herself and Alice to us as quickly as possible. Once they arrived, Bella was leading Alice and letting her lean on her for strength and direction. And that's the way it should've been, because Jasper was in much worse condition. Up until about forty-five minutes before they arrived, we weren't sure…we weren't sure how serious Jasper's injuries were. Just as the nurse started noticing changes in his read-outs, Jasper suddenly moved his hand.

The doctor was called in and he removed the breathing tube and we held our breath while waiting for him to take his. Jasper began to breathe and cough, his face screwed up in pain and confusion. When he finally opened his big blue eyes, they were horribly bloodshot and weak looking, but also the most beautiful sight in the world to Carlisle and me. The doctor told him not to talk because his throat was going to be raw and painful for some time to come. Jasper nodded briefly and then winced at the motion. His eyes locked on Carlisle's, staring intently. I started to tell Carlisle what Jasper wanted, but I should've known my husband better.

"Edward is fine, Son. He's just sleeping off some serious exhaustion. We called Alice—"

Jasper's brow furrowed, eyes widened and he tried to shake his head, but stopped himself quickly.

"Relax, Jasper. Of course, we called her. She's on her way here with Bella. She wants to be with you," Carlisle took Jasper's hand and held it firm. "If it were her wouldn't you go to her?"

He did relax at that and croaked out a shaky, "Hell, yes" before the doctor warned him again not to try to talk.

Once Jasper fell asleep again, I went to call Kate and Garrett to give them an update, while Carlisle went to pick up Bella and Alice at the airport.

Carlisle and I went to a hotel once the girls were firmly entrenched at the hospital with our boys. I know they're all grown people, technically, but to me, especially right now, they seem so young. They're just starting to find out what life is really all about. Careers are wonderful, material things are just things, no matter how fancy they are, your past and your family connections make up a big part of who are, but I think that who you choose to love says the most about you.

Jasper never worried me too much. He had such a clear view of what kind of person he wanted to be and what kind he didn't want to be, that I felt fairly certain he would find a woman who would allow him to be everything he wanted. And then I met his Alice and I just knew she would help him be even more than he knew he could be. There's just something about her and the two of them together.

It was Edward who worried me. From the time he was in high school, his choice in girls was all over the place. He didn't seem to put any thought into the kind of women he dated. We didn't get to meet many of them as he got older, but still I could see the pattern continuing. And it looked like a pattern of pretty faces that didn't amount to much in the greater scheme of things. Even Christy, whom I liked very much as a person, didn't seem to have any real affect on Edward. He appeared to be content to have her around, but he was just the same if she wasn't. I didn't want to see him pine away, but I would have liked to see him miss her a little.

When Edward brought Bella to our house, I saw what I had been missing in him. He was connected to her. When she walked away or entered into conversation with someone else, he unconsciously aligned himself toward her, waiting for her return, even as he carried on his own conversations. When they were together, they were a unit, a true couple, whether they knew it or not. I was a bit surprised, considering how short a time they had known each other, but sometimes it happens that way.

After Bella and Alice and their friends went home to Seattle, Edward brought up her name in every conversation we had. Bella had said the funniest thing. Bella made the best French toast. Bella was so smart and driven, she should have her own restaurant. Bella, Bella, Bella. I did my best not to smile indulgently at him and let him know that he was giving himself away. Edward is just like Carlisle in that he has to come to decisions on his own. If I had pointed out to him then that he was in love with her, he would've gotten all defensive and sideways with me and fought it.

There was just one thing about Edward's relationship with Bella that bothered me and I was going to try to talk to her about it as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

**Bella's POV**

Edward was feeling better to the point of giddiness. I don't know if it was a reaction to the medication, relief over Jasper's improved health, the long night and day's sleep, or just excitement over me being there. Personally, I was hoping for the last, but no matter the reason, I was getting a contact happiness high from him. Or maybe I was just that happy to be with him again.

His parents had brought him a change of clothes, as I assumed they would, and they showed up shortly after Edward and I woke up.

"Oh, we've been here for a couple of hours," Carlisle told me. "We couldn't really sleep so we came back over. Jasper woke up again and we got to talk to him a little bit. He wants to see Edward as soon as possible."

"We've been in here a couple of times to check on Edward, but y'all were so sound asleep, we didn't want to bother you," Esme added.

I felt my face heat up with an unwarranted blush. There was something intimate about Edward and I curled up on the small, cramped bed and knowing his parents had seen us that way, embarrassed me a little bit.

Edward took a quick shower and dressed in the bathroom. When he came out, I could see he was moving a little slowly, trying to compensate for the stiffness in his muscles and his t-shirt and sweatpants rubbing against his tender skin.

The nurse came in as we were getting ready to go down to Jasper's room and insisted on checking Edward's vitals before we went anywhere.

"Why don't you and I go on ahead and the men can catch up with us," Esme suggested. I noticed she didn't wait for my response before she piloted me out the door and down the hall. The heavy room door hadn't even whooshed all the way closed before she pounced.

"Bella, dear, I've been thinking about calling you," she began.

"You can call me anytime," I assured her, but I was still a little anxious about where she was headed with this.

"I think on the one hand it's really not my place, because you're both grown people. But on the other hand, Edward is my son and it is my place to worry about him. And I've grown very fond of you very quickly and anyone will tell you I have a tendency to be over-involved in the lives of those I care about." I realized with her rambling, that Esme was nervous about whatever she wanted to say, and I found that put me a little more at my ease. Even if I didn't like whatever it was, I liked her, and I didn't want her to feel like she couldn't talk to me.

"Whatever it is, Esme, I'll be as honest with you as I can be. Just tell me," I encouraged her.

"Why are you and Edward buying a house together and planning to live together, but not getting married?" she asked frankly.

I was afraid that question was going to come up sooner or later and I was embarrassed at the answer, but I promised just a few seconds before that I would be honest no matter what the question was.

"He didn't ask me," I said simply, but I could feel the traitorous blush creeping up my neck.

Esme looked like she was going to burst. "But you would marry him if he asked you?"

"Wait," I said, getting alarmed. "Please don't pressure Edward into proposing. I'm fine with where we are. I know he's committed to me—"

"Oh, honey, relax. The last thing on earth I would do to get Edward to propose to you would be to tell him to. Men are contrary by nature. You never get anything out of them with the direct approach. But now I know you're open to getting married…"

"Please, Esme. Don't do anything. We'll get there, but I want it to be on our terms. If Edward proposes I want to know that it's entirely his own idea and what he really wants."

We were walking slowly down the corridor arm in arm. We had passed Jasper's door once and were making another round. Esme stopped and took my forearms in her hands, shaking me once gently.

"If is not a question, Bella. You're it for Edward. He's had it written all over him from day one. But Edward does tend to do things his own way. I'll stay out of it, okay? But just know I can't wait for the day you officially become a part of our family. I think you were made for us just as much as you were made for him!" She hugged me hard and I wasn't even embarrassed at the way I teared up. That was quite possibly the nicest thing anyone had ever said to me.

Esme sighed and started us walking again. "I feel like everything's coming together Bella. Like the stars are aligning. Do you ever have those moments you just wish you could freeze because everything is just the way it should be? I mean, not the accident and the hospital and everything," she amended quickly. "But now we know they're both okay. And Jasper has Alice and Edward has you…"

I murmured that I knew what she meant.

"If only you were moving here, instead of Edward moving to Seattle, I'd be perfectly satisfied. Ah well, that's what planes are for, right?"

When we reached Jasper's room the second time, we stepped inside to find Carlisle and Edward already there with Alice and Jasper. Edward was sitting next to Jasper's bed on the far side of the room and their hands were clasped hard together. Jasper was rubbing his eyes and Edward's looked suspiciously red, but they were both smiling.

"Bella!" Jasper rasped. His voice sounded terrible and he looked like hell. I grinned and went over to take his other outstretched hand.

"Your boy saved my life," he told me.

"So I heard," I nodded, with a proud smile for Edward. "Do you want to talk about it or would you rather not?"

"I can't tell you much. Last thing I remember, we were getting ready to get out of the water for the day and I decided to take one more run. That's it," he shrugged. He looked at Edward who took a deep breath, looked at me for a long moment before moving on to the others, and picked up from there.

"I was done in for the day, but I stood in the shallows and watched to see if he'd catch anything good. It wasn't much of a wait and then a good swell came up. He caught it perfectly, but he overbalanced or something. He didn't have the lead tethered on his ankle and the board shot out from under him and came down, just as he was coming up…" Edward gestured with his hands, how the board had come down and hit Jasper in the head as he was surfacing. "He went under. I swam out to him as fast as I could and grabbed him as he bobbed up, but he was out cold and his head was bleeding where the board hit him."

Jasper's hand went automatically to the spot on the left side of his head that I hadn't noticed before because it was toward the back and on the side away from the door. His head had been shaved in a neat circle around the area and he had what looked to be fifteen or twenty stitches.

"I couldn't reach his board, so I had to just grab him under his arms from behind and try to swim in backward," Edward paused to swallow and clear his throat. Alice was standing next to him and she patted his shoulder encouragingly.

"I felt like I had been swimming for half an hour when I looked back and realized I wasn't making any progress. It was getting harder and harder to keep both of our heads up. Jasper kept slipping under and then I'd boost him up and I'd go under. And then it started feeling like we were actually being pulled down. We'd gotten caught in the outer edge of a riptide, but I didn't know that until the life guards told me later. I just thought it was exhaustion and fear taking over.

"Finally, I heard people yelling from the shore, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. It felt like forever at the time but it was probably only a few minutes later, the life guards reached us and took over. They saved both our lives. I didn't have much longer left in me."

"Don't play it down, Son. We won't harp on it, but you need to let us all thank you for what you did," Carlisle insisted. "It's no more than Jasper would've done for you in the same situation, but it's—" Carlisle choked up for a moment, but when he spoke again he was in complete control. "We're just so incredibly lucky that this whole thing ended the way it has."

"Why didn't the people on the beach help?" Alice demanded.

"They did," Edward assured her. "They called 911 and were advised about the riptide they were tracking in the area and told to stay out of the water, but to keep us in their sight for as long as possible so they could show the beach patrol where we had last been seen if…"

Esme shuddered involuntarily. "Alright, but that if never happened. And you're both alive and well and we're all here together. If ever there was a day for counting blessings!"

Jasper's condition continued to improve, but the doctor still estimated at least two days before they would consider releasing him. Carlisle and Esme had gone out to dinner, promising to come back in the evening before they went back to the hotel to finally get some real sleep. Edward and I stayed and kept Jasper company while Alice went to the gift shop and bought every bride and wedding magazine she could find, a notebook and a pack of pens.

"We're going to get busy planning our wedding while I have a captive audience," she announced with a big grin.

Jasper tried to look put out, but he couldn't pull it off. He only managed to look indulgent and exhausted all at once. With a sly smile, Alice pulled a Sports Illustrated out from her pile of magazines and handed it to him. "I won't drive you too hard, baby," she promised.

"I think we should let these two get on with their planning and go get checked into the hotel across the street," Edward suggested to me.

"You've been released?" I asked him.

"Yep. I'm supposed to get lots of rest, keep my scrapes and contusions clean and spend a couple of days in a hotel room with a beautiful woman."

Jasper groaned from the bed. "If I didn't want to hear you having phone sex, what makes you think I want to hear this?"

"We're going, we're going. But we'll be back in the morning with real food for breakfast," Edward promised. "We'll smuggle it in if we have to!"

"Oooh! Blueberry muffins, please," Alice said.

"Scrambled eggs! Bacon!" Jasper added as we left.

The Ramada Inn across the street from the hospital was nothing particularly fancy or special, but it was nice enough. It wouldn't really have mattered to me if it was a dump, frankly, as long as I could be alone with Edward and have a decent bed to sleep in.

We had a quick, forgettable meal in the hotel restaurant and went upstairs. I was so tired I was aching with it during dinner, but once we were in our room and it was just the two of us, the sleepiness just seemed to evaporate. _Slow down_, I reminded myself, _Edward is still recuperating and probably doesn't have the energy_—

That thought was put on hold when he slid his arms around my waist from behind and kissed my neck tantalizingly, running his tongue along a path from my ear to the hollow where my neck and shoulder met. I shivered in his arms.

"Watch it," I warned. "Don't start something you can't finish."

"Can't finish?" he demanded, turning me around abruptly. "Sugar, when have I ever not been able to finish what I started?"

He had a point there. An excellent point. I conceded that point with a shrug and a little strategic lip-biting. His hungry lips came down on mine and I slid my hands onto his broad shoulders.

Edward jerked out of my reach with a muttered curse and then immediately apologized and I realized I had dug my fingers into one of his worst sores.

"Oh god, I'm sorry, Edward! I wasn't even thinking." I felt terrible.

"Don't apologize, I started it. I didn't think about it either." He pulled his t-shirt up and over his head and I winced at the painful-looking patches of raw, red skin so liberally spread over his shoulders and torso and back.

"How did all this even happen?" I asked him.

"We should've been wearing rash guards or even wetsuits, I guess, but it's so damn hot down here. Some of it's just garden-variety sand rash, you get from wiping out and being thrown on to the shore over and over in the course of the day. Most of it is from when the life guards dragged us in. It's not as bad as it looks."

"Yeah right, tough guy," I said, shaking my head. "It obviously hurts like living hell and I know your muscles are sore from the way you were moving earlier. Let me take care of you, okay? Please?"

"Take care of me how?" he asked with suggestively raised eyebrows.

I pulled the covers back on the bed dramatically in response. "Face down, mister. Now."

"Bossy," Edward replied, but he did it. I grabbed the waist band of his sweat pants and slid them off with a little help from him lifting his hips.

I looked in the bag the nurse had given him before we left and got out the antibacterial ointment with a topical pain reliever in it that they had given him. This wasn't going to feel particularly good, but it needed to be done and I had an idea how to make it up to him after.

I straddled his butt carefully and, using as light a touch as possible, I smoothed the salve over the wounds on his shoulders, his back and even the backs of his legs. He hissed and groaned a few times, but mostly bore up pretty well.

"Turn over," I instructed when I finished with his back. He complied willingly. I was now straddling his groin, but I raised up on my knees to avoid contact. "Too bad we don't have any S.T. 37 here."

Edward shook his head. "That stuff stings like a mother on open sores. This is better."  
"Speaking of S.T. 37, though. Remember your other miracle cure for sun poisoning?"

His eyes darkened perceptibly and my heart started pounding in response to the look he was giving me. "I remember," he assured me.

"Wonder if it would work on this," I mused thoughtfully.

"In the name of scientific discovery, I think we should find out," Edward said, grabbing my hips and grinding me on his ready and waiting cock. I pushed back up on my knees.

"Uh-uh! I'm not done with the initial treatment, yet. Patience." I swung my leg over and got off the bed, setting the ointment down on the bedside table. I quickly stripped out of my jeans and shirt and then stepped out of my panties and unclasped my bra, flinging it off casually. I stripped off his boxer briefs carefully and took up my former position, picking up the medication again matter-of-factly.

"Bella," Edward said my name like a warning and a promise. I thrilled to it, but I tried to play it off.

"Shhhh. I'm working here," I admonished him. I went back to doctoring him carefully, concentrating on my hands and not meeting his intense gaze. He tried several times to raise hips enough to bring him in contact with my now excruciatingly aroused center, but I just raised up further on my knees and pretended not to notice. And this was not easy considering his, um, _reach_.

Finally, I set the tube down and wiped my hands carefully on a tissue which I then tossed in the trash can. Resting my hands on my thighs I met his eyes and smiled as innocently as I could. "Now then, what else were we going to do?"

Edward growled and clasped my hips in his hands. "You think it's funny to torture an injured hero?"

"A little," I admitted. "Now, as I remember it, sex was not part of the treatment for sun poisoning. It was, uh, manual stimulation."

"Yes, but the actual treatment was orgasm," he reminded me quickly. "It didn't really matter how it came about, just so long as it…came."

"That hardly seems fair, though, for you to get sex when all I got—"

"Bella, fuck me gently and spare my aching body, or I'll fuck you rough and damn the consequences!" Edward demanded with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"The patient knows best, I suppose," I said breathlessly. I grabbed my purse off the bedside table and fished for a condom.

It only took moments to slide on the prophylactic and push myself down on him, as I was wet and he was ready. I couldn't brace myself on his chest or shoulders, as I usually did and I couldn't lay forward as the friction between our bodies would've been painful for him. But quickly I found a way to brace my hands on the mattress on either side of him and still hold my torso up off of him.

"Goddamn!" Edward sighed, watching my breasts as I rode him. His eyes closed briefly and then flew open again, fixing on my face. "You are better than any drug, sugar."

I laughed, but it came out more like panting and then it morphed into that. I pushed myself up into a sitting position, needing a change of angle. I rested my hands on my ankles and used my hips to keep the rhythm going. Edward gasped and nodded, screwing his eyes shut again, concentrating on the sensations I was creating. I threw my head back and did the same, only to be jerked out of my reverie moments later when he pinched my clit suddenly and then fell to rubbing it intently.

The build-up was sudden and powerful and then I was coming with little warning. I let myself fall forward onto my hands again, bracing as Edward's orgasm "treatment" took effect. He held my hips down hard against his even after his aftershocks subsided. I moved my hands to either side of his face and leaned down carefully to kiss him slow and long.

Eventually, I had to move or risk permanent hip damage. I cleaned up in the bathroom and came back to bed naked. We found a comfortable position for both of us and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The first time my cell phone rang, it took me too long to wake up enough to grope around the bedside table for my purse and then find the phone and answer it. Before I could even check messages, it started ringing again. I hit "answer" automatically.

"Bella?"

"Bruce? Is everything okay?" I asked groggily. It was pitch dark in the room and I had no idea what time it was.

Bruce laughed, but it sounded angry and sure enough he started to yell, getting progressively louder. "Oh sure. Everything's fucking _fantastic_. I was just wondering if _you_ were planning to _fucking_ show up to _your_ fucking job any time soon!"

**James sucks, Bella is in trouble, but Edward and Jasper are alive and well, so all is right with the world. You think you know where this is headed, but _I'm_ pretty sure you don't. :D **


	20. Chapter 20 Respite

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter Twenty**

**Respite**

**Bella POV**

"Whoa, whoa, _whoa_!" Edward sat up next to me, obviously having heard Bruce's rant. He turned on the lamp on his side of the bed and we both squinted against the light. "Let me have the phone."

I leaned away from his outreached hand. "No!" I whispered, covering the phone. "Edward, it's _Bruce_."

"I know who the fuck it is and he'd _best_ not talk to you like that!" he fumed, reaching again for my phone. Even in the current situation I couldn't help noticing that Jasper was right about Edward's "Southern" coming out more when he was tired or stressed.

"I'll take care of it," I hissed. I could appreciate his protectiveness to a degree, but as a grown woman and a professional, there was not a chance in hell I was going to let my boyfriend tell off my boss of four years for yelling at me. It took a moment, but Edward put his hand down and lay back on the bed, folding his arms behind his head.

"Bruce, I get that you're upset, but please don't speak to me like that. I think I've earned better than that from you," I said, keeping my voice steady and calm by focusing on a truly generic framed print on the wall in front of me.

"And _I_ think I've earned the right to expect you to show up for work. What time are planning on getting over here?" Bruce demanded, but he had stopped yelling and cursing.

I looked at the digital alarm clock on the bedside table on Edward's side. I was surprised to find it was only 10:48 p.m., but our internal clocks were completely out of whack at this point. If it was 10:48 in Florida, that meant it was 7:48 p.m. in Seattle—well into dinner service at Beck's.

"What are you talking about? I'm in Florida with Edward. Didn't James tell you what happened?"

"James told me there had been some kind of accident with Edward's brother and you wouldn't be in this morning because you were helping Alice make travel arrangements. My understanding was that Edward was fine and you would be in for dinner service."

James. That son of a bitch. There was no way James had misunderstood what I said. I still didn't know exactly what his end game was, but that he had one was beyond the shadow of a doubt now. It was a rather genius move, if I thought about it. Bruce probably knew that I called the restaurant and spoke to James, so he couldn't just not relay the message, but he could, and apparently did, pretend to get the message wrong and cast doubt on my reliability.

But going off on James at the moment wouldn't do me any good. Instead I simply said, "That is not what I told James. Edward was hurt, too, just not as badly as Jasper. I had to come down here. Alice needed me and I needed to be here for Edward and his family."

Edward turned on his side and curved his reclining body around my upright one, wrapping his arms around my waist and covering my lower back with feather-light kisses. I shivered, suddenly acutely aware of how very naked we both were under the thin hotel sheet, but I forced myself to focus.

There was a brief pause in which I could hear the clanking, gushing, guttural din of the line in the background and then Bruce heaved a tremendous sigh. "How is Edward?"

I ran my free hand over his muscular thigh as if to reassure myself and his arms tightened around me. "He's going to be fine. Thank you."

"And his brother?"

"It's going to take a while, but he's going to be okay, too."

"I'm glad to hear it," Bruce said. He sounded sincere, but still frustrated. "Listen, I have to get back on the line. When you get back, we need to have a serious talk about the future."

I felt my heart drop into my feet, but I knew I couldn't press him for the specific topic of that conversation during dinner service. "Okay. I'm sorry for the…miscommunication. I'll figure out my itinerary and call you in the morning to let you know when I'll get back."

"Good deal. Talk to you then."

After Bruce hung up, I shut my phone and clasped it between my hands which I brought up to my lean my forehead on. I tried to take a few deep breaths and let Edward's lips and fingers ease the anxiety out of me.

"You okay?" Edward grabbed my hips and turning me a little more toward him.

"Did you hear all that?" I asked, without lifting my head.

He laid his head on my thigh and nodded. "I heard. I knew James was a slimy bastard, but what is he trying to accomplish?"

"Wild guess? I'd say he's after my job." I shrugged, put the phone down and ran my hands through Edward's hair, gently massaging his scalp, helping us both relax.

"You know what? Let him have it. Start your own restaurant. You and I both know you're talented and driven enough. Emmett wants to invest. I do. I bet my family would, too," he said, his enthusiasm building on itself.

"Thank you, but I don't want to do it that way," I said. I tried to explain. "Bruce can be a hothead, but overall he's been incredibly good to me. When I go out on my own, I want to do it with his blessing, as his protégé. The last thing I'm going to do is let James force me out and sever my relationship with Bruce.

"You have no idea how small and semi-incestuous the world of world-class chefs can get. Getting a successful restaurant off the ground is as much about who you know and where you trained and who you trained under, as it is about your talent and skill."

"I still think you're ready to go out on your own," Edward said. The stubborn jut of his chin was endearing.

His belief in me warmed me from the inside out, but I wasn't ready to contemplate that kind of change on top of everything else. Life as I had known it was beginning to change drastically and irrevocably. I would be living with Edward in the first house I had ever bought. Sometime soon thereafter, I assumed since Alice and Jasper were procrastinating about setting a wedding date, Alice would be living all the way across the country from me. Then in the summer, my parents were moving away from the town they had lived in all their—and my—life. Further changes were not only unnecessary, but dangerous to my mental health.

"I'll know when I'm ready. Trust me," I assured him. "Hey! I brought something to show you…" He leaned up, propping his chin in one hand as I slid out of bed and went to my bag.

"You know," he said philosophically, "I hate when you get out of bed, but I _love_ watching you walk away."

"Take it easy, tiger," I laughed, looking over my shoulder at him. "You actually do need to get some rest and let your body heal."

I pulled a pair of panties and my pajamas out of my bag and slipped them on. As I buttoned the pajamas, I asked him, "Remember this?"

He took a second to look me over before a big, dopey grin broke out on his face. It was the worn-soft blue nightshirt I had been wearing the first night we met.

"Hell yeah, I remember that," Edward said, his voice low and sexy as hell. "Is that supposed to help with the whole taking it easy thing? Because…"

I came back to bed with the surprise I'd brought with me. "Focus, please, Mr. Cullen. This is important."

I spread out a sheaf of photographs I had taken with my digital camera and printed out. I had them in a photo mailer ready to send to him, but when we got the call to come to Florida I grabbed them off the table beside my front door and stuffed them in my carry-on. They were pictures of our house; inside and out, every room, every angle, everything I wanted him to see.

Edward gathered them up and began to go through them one-by-one. He said nothing. I watched his face avidly, waiting for his reaction. He had seen pictures of the house and the virtual walk-thru on the realtor's website, but that was with the previous owner's furniture and belongings still in it. After the closing, I went straight over and started taking these pictures.

Finally, I couldn't take the silence anymore. "I know it looks different empty like that, but I love being able to look at the rooms and imagine our stuff in it. I can't stop thinking about where we'll put things and how we'll make it ours. …Um, say something! You do you still like it?"

"I love it! Are you kidding? This is our home. In just a few weeks, you and I will be living in this house together." He waved the picture of the front of our house at me, his face lit up with excitement. He started dealing out the pictures like playing cards. "_This_ is where you'll perfect the recipes you'll use in your own restaurant some day. _This_ is where we'll curl up on the couch and watch your _Top__Chef_ and _Amazing__Race_ and whatever else you want to watch."

"And whatever you want to watch, too," I said.

"I'll be watching you, so I don't care what's on the TV."

"You say that now, but what happens when the Braves are playing on TBS or, _god__forbid_, the PGA…Golf…Classic Open Whatever is on?" I demanded playfully.

"Then you can stare at me while I watch TV." He leaned in and kissed me sweetly, pulling back before I could bite his lip. Returning to the pictures, he said, "I've been meaning to ask you about the extra bedrooms. Can one of them be my home office?"

I took one of the photos from his hand. "I was thinking this one would be perfect for that purpose. I love the big windows overlooking the backyard. I figure when you lock yourself in there for too long I can do a little nude sunbathing out there to get your attention."

Edward threw his head back and laughed. "That would absolutely work! So if you spend too much time in the kitchen, I should…what?"

"Hmmmm." I put my finger to my chin and looked to the ceiling, pretending to be deep in thought. "Strip naked and do the dishes! That would be my dream come true."

"Be prepared, sugar," he warned with a dangerous look in his eyes. He tossed out another picture.

"Ah, the backyard, where we'll have our friends over to barbecue on the three days a year it's not raining."

"Don't be a baby. We get at least two weeks a year without rain in Seattle."

"Silly me." Edward rolled his eyes playfully.

I sighed, laying back on my pillow. I don't know what possessed me, but I had to ask him something that had been on my mind, especially after the conversation with his mother. "Are you sure you're ready to change your whole life? It's not just the weather, you know. Your job, not seeing your family on a regular basis, and being, you know, in a committed relationship for the first time. Living together. You're really changing every conceivable part of your life."

He gathered up the pictures and tossed them on the nightstand. Lying down beside me, he splayed one hand on my stomach and rested his head on the other to look down at me. "I know what I'm doing and I'm a hundred percent ready. Don't doubt that. I had a great life before I met you, Bella, but you took it to a whole new level and I can't wait to see what's next."

"How do you do that?" I didn't mean to whisper, but the moisture that gathered behind my eyes at his words, was running down the back of my throat making it prickle and affecting my voice. "I wish I could think of the perfect thing to say, but all I can say is I love you and I'm so lucky."

I watched his face as he approached me for a kiss. He was beautiful without a doubt. I couldn't help admiring the finely executed planes of his cheekbones, his golden skin tone, his wide, full mouth and, of course, his eyes. It wasn't only the bright, unusual color or the dark fringe of lashes around them, though. It was the expression in them that told me he was for real, that he felt for me as deeply as I felt for him, and that not only was I not making a mistake by leaping into this relationship, I was making the smartest move of my life.

Tomorrow I had to book a flight back to Seattle much sooner than I would've liked. When I got home, I had to talk to Bruce about my future with Beck's and deal with that scum-sucking leech James. But tonight, all I had to do was be here with the man I loved, knowing he was safe and I was loved and all was right with the world.

**Edward POV**

I think we finally got sleep around one a.m., but I'm not sure. Time was beginning to lose all meaning between the accident, the medication, Bruce's phone call and being holed up in a hotel room with Bella. I would've liked to have gone for a second round of treatment with the lovely doctor, but she made me settle for a little intense making out and a lot of talking, mostly about our house. She wasn't too inclined to speculate on the situation with Bruce. James better stay out of my sight once I got up to Seattle.

The next morning my dad knocked on the door bright and early to see if we wanted to grab a quick breakfast before going over to the hospital to visit Jasper and see if we could pry Alice away long enough to get a shower and maybe a good nap.

We went to a nearby Mimi's Café and had a fantastic breakfast and ordered two more for Jasper and Alice, complete with blueberry muffins and scrambled eggs and bacon. Jasper and Alice fell on the feast like a couple of ravening wolves.

"Did you get your wedding all planned out?" Bella asked Alice. "How hideous is my bridesmaid's dress?"

"You know me better than that, Swan! I don't need to make you and Rose look bad in order to be the most beautiful woman in the room!" she sniffed. "Besides, I could dress you in a Hefty bag and that one still wouldn't take his eyes off of you." She pointed to me playfully and I wholeheartedly agreed.

"Look at her notebook," Jasper said. He looked ever so slightly shell-shocked.

Bella picked up the notebook and opened it, thumbing through the pages and counting the ones covered with Alice's tall, spiky writing. "Eleven pages, front and back. Alice, you better have your wedding _and_ mine planned!" The room suddenly got quiet and Bella's ears got suddenly, violently red.

I looked around to find everyone but Bella, who was poring intently over Alice's notes, looking at me. They all looked away as our gazes met and my mom scrambled to fill the awkward pause.

"So, has your doctor been in this morning Jasper? Any word on how long they'll need to keep you?"

"Dr. Ericsson was in earlier and ran a few tests. He said he would be back after lunch to discuss their recommendations."

"I hate to say this, but I have to get back over to the hotel soon and book a flight back to Seattle for today. There was a misunderstanding at work and I've got to get back to clear it up," Bella said. She set Alice's notebook down with a sigh. I restrained myself from venting about James.

"I'm sorry to hear that, but I know how much they rely on you at that restaurant, Bella. I hope coming here didn't put you in a difficult position," my dad said to her. She assured him that it hadn't, but that she wished she could stay longer.

"And what about you, Alice?" my mom asked. "Are you going back with Bella?"

"I don't think so. I can spare a few more days," she said. She and Jasper shared a private smile between them that the rest of us politely ignored.

"I have to get home myself to see to things at the office," my dad admitted. "But I think Esme's going to stick around til Jasper's ready to come home." My mom nodded.

"How about if I come back with you to finish up my work at the company, Dad? Then mom and Alice and Jasper can come home in Jasper's car when they're ready?" I suggested and he readily agreed.

We sat around and talked a few more minutes, but too soon it was time for Bella to get back and book her flight. My dad had a sudden inspiration and filled six of those wide-mouthed, flimsy plastic cups with water from the plastic pitcher at Jasper's bedside. With a goofy grin he held up his cup in a toast: "To family: The ones you're born into, the ones you make, the ones you can't live without even when you think you might like to try."

We "clinked" our plastic cups over Jasper's prone form, sprinkling him liberally in the process. Last night and this morning were a nice respite from the chaos and stress of the last few days and the upcoming move, but it was time to get back to our regularly scheduled lives.

**I thought they were due for a little taste of the good stuff about being in the same state and a break from the stress of the accident and the upcoming move and job drama. As Edward said though, _"__Be __prepared, __sugar.__"_**


	21. Chapter 21 Homecoming

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter Twenty-One**

**Homecoming**

**Bella's POV**

After another long plane ride and another short night's sleep, I was back at Beck's bright and early. Bruce welcomed me back as if nothing had happened and we dove into the day's prep right away. James was scheduled in later in the morning and would work through the lunch service. When he came in, he made a beeline for me.

"Bella! Good to have you back. Listen, I'm really sorry about the misunderstanding. You know how it is in the middle of a dinner service." He smiled ingratiatingly at me.

I glanced up from the fish I was deboning and gave him an equally insincere smile.

"Sure. I know exactly how it is, James."

He started to turn away and hesitated. "Yeah, well… Hey, how's Edward?"

"He's great, thanks. Oh, by the way, there's a crate of pomegranates in the walk-in that I need you to seed for the dressing."

"Oh, ah, sure. But one of the prep cooks could do that…"

"And what are you, James? Were you promoted while I was gone?" I turned to face him and give him the full benefit of my stare. _Game__on,__douchebag,__I__know__what__you__'__re__up__to._

"No," he said slowly. He dropped the act and let his contempt for me show. "No, not yet. I guess I better go get busy on those pomegranates, _Chef_."

He sauntered away casually and I went back to my fish. I didn't like what was going on between James and I, but I felt better having it out in the open. Open competition, I can deal with any day of the week, but god I hate a sneak.

The day went off without a hitch. Bruce arranged to meet me for our discussion about the ambiguous future on my day off which was two days away. Needless to say, the waiting was eating at me, but I focused on working at the top of my game and tried not to think about it.

Bruce didn't want to meet at the restaurant and I wasn't sure what to make of that. He asked me instead to meet him at a local coffee house for breakfast on my day off. I tried to tell myself that whatever it was I could handle it. Even if he was intent on letting me go, I could convince him he was making a mistake.

However, when I walked into the place and Bruce was sitting at a table nursing a straight black coffee and looking lost in troubled thought, my nerves were shattered and I approached him on shaking legs.

"Morning Bruce." I tried to sound casual and relaxed as I slid into the chair opposite him.

"Bella! Thanks for meeting me. Have a seat. Have a seat," he boomed jovially.

As I was already sitting, I just smiled and waited for him to drop the axe.

"Okay, I'm not going to beat around the bush here, Swan. You've got some serious thinking to do over the next few months. I'm looking to expand my name and my brand and one of the ways I'm going to accomplish that is by opening another restaurant with a truly great chef to run the day-to-day operations."

I suppose I should've been chomping at the bit, turning cartwheels at the implied opportunity, but I sensed an enormous _but_ coming hard on the heels of Bruce's announcement.

"Up until a few weeks ago, you were first choice, hands-down, no contest—"

"And now? I know I've been a little less abjectly devoted to Beck's since I met Edward, but I still give you a hundred percent at work. And you were the one who encouraged me to get a life beyond the restaurant."

"And I'm not faulting you for that, but there is a problem. I've been talking to my agent about the best ways to make a bigger name for myself. We've decided that rather than split the focus on Beck's and another place here in Seattle, we want the new place to be something completely different, something in another region that has a flavor all its own, but that can work with some of my signature flavors. I had been thinking this would be ideal for you, as you seem to be developing quite a fondness for the South. And then you spring it on me that Edward has landed his dream job right here in Seattle. And now I'm at a loss. If I offer you your own restaurant under my wing, are you prepared to move out of state? It doesn't have to be the South, I'm open to other areas, but it can't be here."

Speechless is not a big enough word for my inability to answer that question. I must've looked like I was going catatonic, because Bruce reached over and grabbed my knee, giving it a little shake.

"Breathe, Swan. This isn't a tragedy, it's a fantastic opportunity with a few minor issues standing in the way."

"Not so minor," I said, running my hand through my hair. "Edward and I just bought a house. He arrives Friday and starts work on Monday. And this really is his dream job. He's going to work for Tom Francke."

Bruce whistled lightly in acknowledgement of the name. We sat in silence, lost in our thoughts for a few minutes. Finally, Bruce set his coffee cup down and sighed. "Tell you what: The timeline for getting this thing off the ground is flexible. My agent has a number of things going for me, including a new cookbook and a possible stint on _Iron__Chef_. I can give you three months to make a decision about whether you want this, and if so, submit a proposal to me on the location and type of place you want to open. Otherwise, I'll start looking for other candidates."

"Like James?" I said, before I could stop myself.

Bruce's brow furrowed in confusion. "James? He's a well-trained flunkey, but he's not ready by a long shot to be head chef anywhere. Why do you say that?"

So Bruce hadn't fallen for any of James's bullshit. That knowledge, in and of itself, made this a great meeting. "Oh, it's nothing. I think he's angling for my job. I think that's what the garbled message about my going down to Florida was all about."

Bruce snorted and shook his head disbelievingly. "That punk isn't good enough to hold your jock, Swan. If you had one, that is. There's always someone looking to move up faster than their talent calls for. Just ignore the little piss-ant. I know I always do. He's great at recreating what you or I do, but he doesn't think for himself."

"Don't I just essentially recreate your dishes, Chef?"

"Take a hard look at our menu sometime, Swan. About a quarter of it is your creations. And you've contributed to making a number of mine better over the last four years. I'm not giving you all the credit for my success, but you have been a huge factor and don't think I don't know it."

I was completely bowled over. Bruce has always been one to give a compliment where it was due, but he's not exactly effusive. For him to give me any credit whatsoever for his well-deserved success was an incredible and rare accolade.

"Jeez, Bruce. Way to make me turn into a girl," I laughed shakily, swallowing back an emotional outburst. He laughed and we both relaxed a bit. "I'm going to give this a lot of thought and see if there's any way I can make it work. It's an unbelievable opportunity and I thank you for it from the bottom of my heart."

Bruce took a big gulp of coffee and went a little red around the ears, waving my words off. "I'm not giving it to you, Swan. You've earned it. You just have to decide whether you're ready to take it."

I nodded and then sighed after a moment. "Don't suppose you want to go run the new place and let me have Beck's?" I said without any real hope.

"Nope. If I plan to make my current marriage my last one, I better not try to uproot Melaina from the bosom of her overbearing family. Especially as much as I'm away from home."

I laughed, but privately I thought Bruce should've known better than to marry a local former debutante eighteen years his junior. I'd be pleasantly surprised, not to say shocked and awed, if the marriage lasted for the long run.

I headed back to my apartment with a lot on my mind. I still had a fair amount of packing to do and I wanted to get the bulk of it done before Edward arrived. The monotonous job of wrapping and packing and taping and moving boxes to the long wall near the front door, helped me clear my head a bit. I resolved to let the offer simmer for a while before I did anything or said anything to anyone about it.

Besides, even if I didn't take this opportunity, there would be others. I could let Edward have this time to pursue his dream. Sooner or later it would be my turn. A nagging doubt picked at the threads of thought weaving through my head: How much later? What if Edward became so ensconced at Francke & Associates that he never wanted to leave? What if Bruce never wanted to open another place here in Seattle and never left Beck's? But that was just stupid. Things change all the time. His marriage could fall apart tomorrow and—

I sat up from where I was pulling boxes out from under my bed. What a horrible, selfish, nasty thing to think. Was I really hoping for the demise of a marriage so that I could get ahead in my career on my terms?

Stomping into the living room, I turned on the TV and went to the DVR list to find a show to watch to stop my whirling thoughts. USA network was running a marathon of _Burn__Notice_ reruns. Perfect. I turned it on and turned it up and went back to my packing at a fevered pace.

**Edward's POV**

The last box went into the moving van and the door slammed shut with a heavy metallic finality. I spoke to the drivers to be sure they had all the directions and instructions they needed and shook hands with the guys before they climbed in and drove away with the majority of my worldly possessions.

I had said my goodbyes to my mom and dad and Kate and Garrett and the kids the day before. I wasn't surprised at how much it hurt to leave them, even knowing we'd see each other at Christmas in a couple of months, but that didn't make it any easier.

Bella thought I was driving to Seattle, but I was going to surprise her. I sold my car and I was flying in two days earlier than she expected me. I would buy a new car to replace mine when I got there. I had been subtly pumping her for information on her second favorite car, in the hopes that if I bought that for myself she would fall in love with it and let me have her Volvo. One has to have goals in life.

Jasper was sitting on the front steps, his elbows resting on his knees with his hands dangling between, holding two beer bottles. I walked over and sat down, wiping my hands on my jeans before I accepted the one he held out to me.

After a moment he said, "This kind of sucks."

"Yeah, it kind of does," I had to agree. "But look, we're going to see each other. Especially after Alice gets moved down here. You two'll come up to Seattle, Bella and I will come down here…"

"Sure, I know." Jasper took a long pull on his Bud. He made a sudden shift toward me impatiently. "Aw, dammit, Ed. You've been my best friend since I can remember. We've seen each other nearly every day since we were nine. I'm going to miss you."

"I know, J. It's gonna be weird."

We sat that way for a while drinking and thinking things over. Jasper was more than a best friend, more than a brother. No matter where we went that wouldn't change, but I was going to miss just being a part of each other's day-to-day lives.

"Hey, do me a favor and don't tell Alice about the… Just wait til I've had a chance to tell her."

I laughed. "I won't tell Alice, but Bella's going to find out pretty quick and you know _she__'__s_ going to tell Alice."

"Can't you hide it from Bella for just a little bit?" he pleaded.

"Not a chance in hell, son. Sorry. You better tell Alice."

**Bella's POV**

Emmett helped me load up the last of my boxes and bags and random belongings. The furniture would be moved over after Edward got into town in a couple of days. After he helped me unload, Emmett had to get to work, but he promised to come back and help after and bring Rosalie and Alice.

"It's really because you're scared of the boogeyman, all alone here in this big empty house, huh?" he said, using the creepy voice he had affected to scare the crap out of me when we were kids.

"I'm more scared of your big, meaty hooks breaking all my dishes, but I need the help, thanks."

"No problem, sis. I won't even expect anything gourmet for dinner. Just a simple fois gras will do."

I laughed as I pushed him out the door. "You don't even know what fois gras is you heathen. Get out!" As an afterthought I opened the door again and yelled, "Thanks for your help Em!"

He waved cheerfully as he peeled out of my driveway.

My driveway. My and Edward's driveway. Damn that sounded good. I fought the urge to giggle out loud like a half-wit and went back inside.

Emmett had just set things down anywhere there was an empty space, so I started by moving everything into the room in which it belonged. My plan for the day was to get the kitchen in order while I waited for the delivery of our new mattress and box springs. Edward had asked if I would mind getting rid of my old queen-size bed and getting a California King to "spread out in". I suspected it was more a matter of getting rid of as much Sam-tainted stuff as possible than a need for more elbow room in bed, but I didn't see any need to say so. I wasn't sorry he wanted to get rid of his bed either, given whatever history was there. And I was happy to get a big new bed that would be ours alone.

There was a kind of uncomfortable part to those kind of negotiations, though. Edward wanted to pay for everything. I knew he had a deeper well to draw from, but I had some resources even after we made the down payment on the house and I wanted to contribute. Ah well, these were things we would work out over time, no doubt.

I turned on the radio and settled in to work in the kitchen. I could've used my iPod, but sometimes I liked the surprise of the radio—not knowing what you were going to hear next.

**Edward's POV**

The flight was as long as I remembered, but this time, instead of wondering if Bella would be happy to see me, I knew she would be. I called her from my cell phone after we landed and I had grabbed a taxi.

"What are you doing, sugar?" I asked when she answered her phone.

"Unpacking the kitchen," she sighed. "You're not bringing a lot of kitchen stuff are you, because we're running out of room."

"How can we be running out of room? That kitchen is huge."

"You'd be surprised. I've collected some things over the last few years…"

"Well, luckily I haven't collected much in the way of kitchen wares, so we should be fine. What I'm wondering is whether the bed has arrived?" I lowered my voice a bit in response to the unfortunately attentive cab driver.

"Oh yeah, it has! That thing is huge—I can't wait to fall into it in a little while after a nice long, hot shower…I wish you were here," she said, her voice suggestive of all kinds of good things. I wished the damn cabbie would keep his attention on the road instead of obviously eavesdropping on my conversation.

"Me too, believe me," I said quietly.

She was silent for a moment and I guessed that she was wondering what would cause me to miss an opportunity for a little dirty talking over the phone.

"Okay, well, what are you doing? Are you still on the road?" she finally asked.

"Yep, but I'm about ready to stop for today. I'm pretty tired."

"Why don't you do that and then call me when you're settled into a hotel? I should be all tucked in and ready to chat by then."

"Sounds good to me, honey. Talk to you in a little while."

Twenty or thirty minutes later the taxi pulled up to our house. I paid him quickly and grabbed my bags out of the trunk. I stood and just stared. It was just dusk, and the house was lit with a faint glow from an interior room. The pictures hadn't done the place justice. It was a beautiful craftsman bungalow complete with a fantastic geometric stained glass inset in the front door. I hurried up to the deep, wide front porch not wanting Bella to see me yet.

I reached for the doorknob, hoping it was unlocked and planning to have a talk with my girl about safety when I found that it was. But for tonight it served my purposes beautifully. As soon as I walked into the house, I heard music coming from the kitchen which is also where the only light in the house was emanating from, and made my way there after dropping my things inside the front door.

And there was Bella, woman of my dreams, kneeling on the kitchen counter in a huge, paint spattered t-shirt that had to be Emmett's and a pair of the most beat up looking jeans I'd ever seen. It looked like she had scraped her hair back in a ponytail in the morning, but parts of it had escaped through day. She had removed the glass cover of one of the inverted bowl lights over the kitchen island and was changing out the light bulb as she sang way off-key to The Clash's "Rock the Casbah".

I felt kind of bad, because I knew she was going to be embarrassed when I made my presence known, but for my part, I think I loved her more than ever in that moment. She seemed utterly content and happy, making a home for us. How could that not make me feel like a goddamned king? Like the world's luckiest man?

I knocked on the wall gently, hoping to avoid scaring the hell out of her, but no such luck. She uttered a little scream and whipped around on the counter, sending the glass light cover skittering across the counter and crashing to the floor.

"Edward!" she cried and started to clamber down to meet me. I leaped across the room to grab her before her bare feet landed on the broken glass. She flung herself into my arms, completely ignoring the mess around us. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here, sugar!" I spun her off the counter and walked out of the kitchen, kicking my shoes off on the way out of the room so I wouldn't track glass shards all over the house. I walked from one room to another looking for a place to sit down with her, but the house was still essentially bare of anything but boxes.

"Bedroom!" She pointed down the hall where the mattress and box springs sat in the middle of the room with a stack of folded, clean linen on one corner. The only light in the room was a tiffany-style table lamp plugged-in and sitting on the floor in one corner. I tossed her on the bed and jumped on after her.

"Seriously! What are you doing here now? I wasn't expecting you for a couple of days. Wait, where did you call me from a while ago?" she wrapped her arms around my neck but avoided my kisses as she fired questions at me.

"I called you from the airport so I would know whether to come here or to your apartment," I answered one question and got one kiss. "I decided to fly in instead of driving, but I wanted to surprise you. Since that worked out so well last time."

She stared up at me with those deep, dark eyes, mouth slightly open, as if she was so surprised she couldn't speak. I leaned in and licked her top lip gently and then the bottom one. She stretched up to meet me and closed her mouth over mine, her tongue darting out aggressively. Her fingers slid into my hair, making my scalp tingle first and then the rest of me.

"You're here," she breathed when we parted for a moment.

"I'm here for good," I agreed.

"Welcome home." She wrapped her legs around me as she said it. I wasn't sure if she was welcoming me to the house or to her, but I knew which mattered more to me.

"Thank you, sugar. There's no where on earth I'd rather be." I ran one hand along her face and her neck, over her shoulder and along her side, making her shiver before I rested on her hip.

"This rag has to go," I said, tugging on the hem of the great big t-shirt. She helped me pull it off and tossed it on the floor.

Sitting up to look her over, I took in a plain white athletic bra that was doing nothing for her so it had to go, too. I got a better look at her jeans which were frayed around the waist band and pockets, all along the seams and especially around the ankles, with no knees whatsoever.

"We could just wait a few minutes and these will disintegrate on their own." I tugged on her belt loop, half expecting it to come off in my hand.

She laughed and kissed the corner of my mouth sweetly. "Especially since they're getting wet."

"Why Miss Swan, I believe you're talking dirty to me!"

"I think we can manage more than talking—finally!" She let out an excited little scream and pushed me over, climbing on top of me. "I can't believe you're really here!"

"Let me convince you," I said, feeling my voice drop into a gravelly register. I would've rolled my eyes at myself, except that it was obviously totally working for Bella.

I ran my hands up into her hair, pulling the rubber band out and spreading the strands over her shoulders and down her back. My eyes roamed over her as she straddled me in nothing but those ratty jeans. Her sunburn and subsequent tan had faded, leaving her skin uniformly pale. Just like I had always thought I preferred blue eyes before I met Bella, I had always liked a girl with a bit of a tan, but not anymore. The bright, almost translucent quality to her skin was breathtaking and when it was infused with the rush of blood through her veins as it was now with her arousal, she was transcendently beautiful to me.

Lifting up on my elbows, I took one of her full breasts in my mouth. She sighed and leaned into it, a look of power and control and desire combined in her delicate features. Her hands pulled at my shirt until I took it off and discarded it.

Everything shifted and slowed as she stood, eyes blazing and focused on me. She unbuttoned all down the fly of her jeans and stripped them off deliberately along with her pink and white striped cotton panties as I watched. Instead of rejoining me immediately, she stood and looked me over, unconcealed delight in her expression.

The impulse struck me and I flew off the bed to stand in front of her and peel off the rest of my clothes. We stood in the low light, naked and open and let our hands explore restlessly as we kissed, first sweetly, meaningfully, before the message was overpowered by the method of delivery and it was all intensity. I felt the need to possess her, to make her part of me and to become a part of her. We were finally fully in one place together. There would be no more leaving, no more uncertainty about what tomorrow would bring for us.

She turned in my arms, placing her back to me and pulling my arms tightly around her. I swept her hair away from her neck and sucked gently on the exposed column of flesh she presented to me when she tilted her head up and to the side. A deliciously deep moan from her, vibrated through me and elicited a growl in response.

One arm across her stomach held her tight against me, giving me the friction I needed as I ground against her. The other hand slipped lower and lower until I had it buried between her legs, thrusting into her as she rolled against it in small, tight little motions of her hips.

"Mmmmm. Edward, you have to…"

"Have to what, sugar?" I asked roughly, breathing raggedly in her ear.

"Take me. I need you. Don't say anything else—just take me the way I know you want to," she demanded.

I won't pretend I hesitated. I didn't for a moment. I walked her forward to the bed and used my hands on her back to guide her onto the mattress on her hands and knees. Without warning or preamble of any sort, I entered her hot, wet sex and took her as she asked me to, the way I wanted to. This was one of those things I could never really recreate in my imagination no matter how hard I tried: That initial pull between us when we finally came together. I don't know how to describe it except that it felt like two magnets just as they reached that moment of inevitable attraction. It was inexorable and intense.

Hard and deep and relentless, I thrust into her over and over, coming to edge of release and forcing it back with thoughts of baseball statistics and cement composite ratios. She came once with the assistance of my willing and able fingers and then came again almost immediately as I withdrew my fingers and concentrated my efforts on the rhythm of our joining.

The feel of her contracting around me, the sounds of her reaching after and achieving pleasure, the sight of her silky hair sliding across her arched back as she threw her head back in ecstasy, even the smell of our combined arousal; it was all bringing this to a end sooner than I wanted. But finally, I had to let go or risk serious bodily injury.

"Bella, I'm—"

"I know. Come baby. I want to make you feel good, too," she turned her head to meet my eyes and the look of loving, lust-fueled, concentrated bliss sent a surge of emotion through me as I came inside her with a series of embarrassingly loud grunts.

She collapsed onto her stomach, laughing breathlessly, as I rolled to the side and panted mindlessly.

Finally I said, "I'm sorry, honey, I wanted to last longer, but…"

"You're crazy. My knees were about give out as it was," Bella giggled. "Besides, we have all the time in the world now. Let's rest up and have some dinner and we'll go again!"

It was my turn to laugh, but before I could agree, I heard something. "What was that?" I lifted my head and listened closely.

"Nothing," she said after a moment. "We left the radio on in the kitchen."

But then we both heard a loud knocking at the front door.

Bella sat up suddenly, clapping her hand to her forehead. "Oh no! I invited Emmett and Rosalie and Alice over for pizza tonight. They were going to help me unpack some more things."

"They don't have a key do—" I didn't even get to finish the sentence before we heard voices in the living room headed our way.

"Bella?" "Are you okay?" "What happened in the kitchen?" they were all calling out at once.

I once again tore across the room, this time to slam the bedroom door shut and lock it. "Just a minute!" I yelled.

"Just a—who the hell is that? Open this goddamned door or I'll break it down!" Emmett roared. From the force of the blows he was raining on the heavy oak door, he wasn't kidding.

"Okay, stop!" Bella yelled in between the pounding. She had come up behind me and leaned into the door with her hand on my back. "Edward is here and we're—we need a minute. Get _away_ from our bedroom."

The pounding ceased, followed by loud but garbled whispering, a round of snickering and then the sound of the three of them retreating down the hallway.

I looked down at Bella's bright red face and grinned. "Well, I know the top two things to go on our new homeowner's list: Replace the broken light cover and get that key back."

**Review? Please? Thank you!**


	22. Chapter 22 Demon Scotch & Brotherhood

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

**Demon Scotch and Brotherhood**

**Edward's POV**

As I turned to get my clothes off the floor, Bella grabbed my arm to stop me.

"Not so fast, slick. What's going on here?" She ran her finger a couple of inches down from my neck in between my shoulder blades. I flinched, as the flesh there was still tender.

"Do you like it?" I asked, giving her my best disarming smile. The subject of tattoos had never come up before and I was seriously hoping Bella wasn't violently opposed to them.

"It's—well, yeah, I guess it's…hot!" She finally met my smile with one of her own. "But what in god's name possessed you to get a tattoo?"

"Demon scotch and brotherhood," I answered readily. I'd had plenty of time to think about how to answer that question and that's what I had come up with. I reached for my jeans and slid them on sans underwear as we talked.

"One of Jasper's clients gave him a bottle of supposedly really good scotch. I don't usually touch the stuff and neither does Jas, but we figured what the hell, we'll have a couple shots in honor of my new job and the move and his engagement…etcetera. A couple turned into many. I don't know, we got to reminiscing and talking about being brothers…I'm sure you can imagine. Next thing you know we were in a tattoo parlor asking to have each other's names on our backs."

Bella snorted rather rudely and then began to laugh as she looked again. "That's not Jasper's name, you know."

"I know. The guy at the place asked how long we'd been a couple and even in our drunken stupor we realized we needed to rethink things," I said sheepishly.

Bella was back in her jeans and bra and slipping on the fugly t-shirt she'd been wearing earlier, while trying not to laugh as hard as she wanted to. "So what does the lion symbolize?"

"It's the lion from the Cullen family crest, smartypants. Jasper called Mom and had her send it to his phone."

Now Bella was howling and making no effort to hide it. "You guys called your mommy from the tattoo parlor and had her email you the design? Oh god, that's _priceless_. I think I love you even more now. Does Alice know? I gotta go tell Alice!"

I would've caught her if I'd been one step closer. As it was all I got was the tail end of her t-shirt as it slipped through my fingers. I could hear her in the living room.

"Alice! Jasper has a tattoo!" she squealed.

"What? Jasper _better_ not be in there with you two!" Alice cried.

"No, no! Edward has a tattoo and he said Jasper has one just like it. Wait til you see! Edward, come in here!"

"I'm right here, Bella. No need to scream down the neighborhood," I said from the hallway. I was getting embarrassed and therefore defensive. Bella's face fell and she crossed to me, hugging me around the waist.

"I'm sorry. I was just teasing," she said. "I actually really like it."

"Yeah?"

"Oh yeah."

"Enough of that," Emmett interjected from his spot sprawled out on the living room floor. "Let's see it Cullen."

I shrugged and lifted up my shirt, turning my back to them all.

Emmett said, "Cool."

Alice said, "Jasper has that in the same place?"

Rosalie whistled. "Nice. I bet you know what it means, too." She gave Emmett a derisive look and he ducked his head and mumbled, "Aw, Rose."

"What?" I asked.

"Emmett has a little tattoo of his own," Rose volunteered. "On his butt."

"What is it? Can we see it? When did everybody start getting tattooed?" Alice demanded, hating to be left out of a trend.

"Nobody sees Emmett's butt, but me. And nobody knows what the damn tattoo is, including Emmett." Rosalie bumped him with her shoulder. The poor guy was looking down at the floor like a chastised puppy. I actually felt sorry for him despite being repulsed by the idea of his naked, tattooed ass.

"It's some kind of Celtic symbol. I think," Emmett finally spoke up with a shrug. "I haven't looked it up because I'm not sure I want to know."

Bella and I took a seat on the floor and I began to relax now that the heat was all on Emmett.

"I totally understand how that could happen," I nodded thoughtfully.

"I don't," Bella said frankly. "How the hell do you end up with a tattoo on your ass and not even know what it means?"

"Lauren." One word. Two syllables. Explained everything to Bella and Alice apparently, but I was lost.

Alice piped up, "Lauren Mallory is Emmett's obligatory crazy ex-girlfriend. An amateur tattoo artist and professional gold-digger. The day he dumped her for good was one of the happiest of my life!"

"Amen," Bella added fervently.

"Why must all men have a crazy ex-girlfriend? Is there some rite of passage we don't know about that requires you guys to sleep with a complete psycho at least once?" Rosalie asked rhetorically.

"It's not a requirement so much as an adventure," Emmett said, definitely not rhetorically. At least the man finally spoke up for himself. Rosalie glared at him while Bella and Alice looked on fascinated and a tad apprehensive.

Bella had filled me in on Emmett and Rosalie's fights, which were rare but legendary for their volume and intensity. I had the feeling we were hovering on the verge of one of those.

"Pizza?" I said. "Weren't we going to order some pizza? And I think Emmett and I should make a beer run. Anybody have a preference?"

"Good idea," Rosalie said, still glaring at Emmett who was meeting her gaze without flinching or backing down. "You should definitely get out of here. And get some beer."

"Get something light for us ladies and something dark and bitter and nasty that proves how manly you are for you guys," Bella said. She squeezed my arm and I took it as a sign of appreciation for trying to head off the potential ugliness.

"Will do. And you order us a man's pizza with at least two dead animals on it and something vegetarian with half the cheese that proves how dainty and feminine you are." I kissed her a little longer than your standard "running to the store, be right back" kiss, but hell, I just got there and our afterglow had been interrupted.

In his Jeep, Emmett immediately grumbled, "Why can't women ever let anything go?"

"In general? I don't know. In this case, though, I'd say it has to do with having a constant intimate reminder of your ex on your ass. Women get very possessive over their men's asses."

Emmett laughed followed by a deep sigh. "I'd get the damn thing removed, but it's expensive. And painful. And Rosalie keeps demanding that I do it, so I can't."

I nodded understanding. There was a certain tone, that mother-from-the-mountaintop tone that women used sometimes… If the woman in question was actually your mother, you didn't have much choice but to do as she said. If, however, she was not your mother, but instead the woman you loved and craved and fucked hard on a regular basis, then caving to that tone set a bad precedent. A lot of men might like to be "mothered" but, even for that type, there was a line that could not be crossed and still be able to strip her naked and enjoy her the way a woman ought to be enjoyed.

"Which one of Rosalie's exes do you hate the most?" I asked.

He answered without hesitation, "Royce King. Hands down. He had some kind of evil voodoo hold over her even though he treated her like shit."

"Okay, imagine he had marked her permanently in some visible way. Wouldn't you want it gone?"

Emmett drove as he brooded over that. Finally he turned and glared at me. "You're one of those annoying fuckers that understands women aren't you?"

I laughed and nodded. "Oh definitely. I got 'em all figured out."

He shook his head and gave me a knowing smirk. "You really think so, because you got my sister to fall in love with you and move in to a house together in a couple of months. I'll admit that's quite a feat, but you have no idea what you're really in for, man. This is your first real committed relationship and you've leapfrogged about a year's worth of steps."

"I don't think so." But I didn't sound as sure as I thought I was.

"We'll see. You dove over the frying pan straight into the fire. This should be interesting."

All was well again by the time we got back to Bella's—my and Bella's house—with the beer. Rosalie went willingly into Emmett's outstretched arms for a quick, but affectionate hug and everybody relaxed and dug into the pizza.

Alice called Jasper and put him on speaker so we could all talk to him and tell him he was missing out. He sounded genuinely bummed and on the verge of getting on a plane when Alice popped the question.

"So, Jasper, anything you want to tell me before I see you naked again?"

"Dammit Edward. Couldn't keep your shirt on for an hour could you?"

"Hey—I warned you I wasn't going to hide it," I laughed.

"Traitor," Jasper said. "Alice? Are you pissed, darlin'?"

"Mmmm, no. Surprised, but not pissed. Why did you think I would be?"

"It's just a pretty permanent thing to do without even talking to you."

"I'm fine with it, Jaz. It is your body after all and I'm betting it looks even better on you than it does on Edward."

"Ha," Bella interrupted. "No offense Jasper!"

Jasper's lazy laugh floated into the room. "None taken. But Alice? My body is yours, too, you know."

Alice broke out in a great big grin. "That's true. I may have to punish you for marking up my property like that, after all. Or maybe I'll just go out and get a tattoo of my own."

"How about our wedding date right over your heart? And if you did that, what date would it be?" Jasper had been prodding Alice to go ahead and set the date for their wedding, but Alice had been having trouble deciding.

"How about May 15?" she shot back.

Without missing a beat, he accepted. "Sounds good to me, darlin'. Does that give us enough time?"

"Barely. It's only a little over six months, but that's as long as I can stand—"

"Wait—did you two just set the date?" Rosalie demanded. Alice nodded with a big grin as Jasper said, "Yep."

The requisite squealing ensued. After we all said good night to Jasper and Alice took the phone out on the back porch for a little private conversation, the rest of us got busy cleaning up the broken glass in the kitchen and then started unpacking Bella's trillion boxes of kitchen wares.

Emmett and Rosalie were still talking about Jasper and Alice's wedding, speculating on how over-the-top Jasper was going to let Alice get and whether he'd be able to stop her even if he wanted to.

"Jasper's quiet but I bet he can put his foot down when he needs to," Emmett shrugged.

"Sure he can. And Alice will kiss him hard as she steps on it," Rosalie returned. "Just you wait and see."

"I don't know about that. Jasper can be just as hard-headed as she is," I offered. "He just quietly digs his feet in and refuses to budge." I looked over at Bella who was organizing the small pantry and had her back to us. "What do you think, Bella?"

"Hmm? I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention. I know I had another box of spices… I'll be right back."

Bella had some strange reactions to the mere mention of weddings. I couldn't decide if it was anxiety about Alice moving away, or maybe she was afraid I would get ideas and start pushing for marriage immediately. I wasn't going to. I knew Emmett was right on some level about how far and how fast I had pushed our relationship. I wasn't remotely sorry about it, but I wasn't going to test my luck either. Especially after her reaction in the hospital when she joked about her wedding and then turned six shades of red while backpedaling furiously.

Emmett, Rosalie and Alice left around ten. Emmett and I made arrangements to meet the next morning to start the final furniture hauling from Bella's apartment. Emmett was going to borrow a 16 foot truck from one of his subcontractors. Bella and Alice had to work, but Rosalie volunteered to run errands and pick up lunch for us. She made it clear that she was not, under any circumstances, going to move heavy pieces of furniture.

An unexpected feeling of awkwardness came over me when we shut the door behind them. Bella and I were _home_ together and the magnitude of it was surreal. Plus, the house was still largely empty. There was no couch to snuggle on, no TV to watch. Just me and Bella and a bunch of boxes and the gigantic bed and the kitchen full of professional grade appliances and cookware.

As if she was reading my thoughts, she wrapped her arms around my waist and sighed, "Well, that was some introduction to my world, wasn't it?."

I kissed the top of her head, laughing quietly. We stood like that, just holding onto each other a few moments, until Bella pulled away, taking my hand and towing me toward the bedroom. "Let's get the bed made up so we can pass out."

"Why don't we just pass out and worry about making up the bed tomorrow? I'm wiped," I confessed.

Reluctance and indecision warred on her face, but she said, "I guess…we could do that."

"What's wrong?"

She gave me a sheepish grin. "Maybe it's stupid, but I hate sleeping in an unmade bed. It drives me crazy."

"Oh. Okay, well, we can make it up. It's no big deal." I grabbed the fitted sheet from the pile of linens we had knocked on the floor earlier and we set to work making up the bed.

"I'm sorry. It's just a quirk of mine. You should know I also can't stand to sleep in my clothes. No matter how tired—or drunk—I am, I have to put pajamas on before I can sleep."

She grabbed the flat sheet and whipped it over the mattress, watching it settle and then proceeding to circle the bed, making sure it was even on both sides before expertly tucking it in at the bottom. I tossed her the bedspread and we smoothed it on together.

"Okay. That's—"

"And brush my teeth! I _cannot_ go to bed without brushing my teeth." She stopped and blushed. "I should probably save some of the obsessive compulsive crazy for another time. I don't want to overwhelm you on the first night."

"Believe me, Bella. I've been overwhelmed by you since the night we met. A little crazy isn't going to scare me off."

She threw her head back and laughed and I wondered at the rush of emotion it triggered. Grabbing a bag from beside the door to the master bath, she blew me a kiss and went in to get ready for bed. I stripped my clothes off and slipped into the comfortable bed. I had to admit it felt good to get under the fresh sheets, but unlike Bella I could live without brushing my teeth this very second. I'd get around to it whenever I got up to go to the bathroom.

I could feel sleep stealing over me even as I fought it, waiting for Bella to come to bed. I would've sworn I was awake, but when Bella slipped in next to me, I gave a start and realized I had drifted off. She threw her arm over my waist and lay her head on my chest.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," she whispered. She had cut the light off before she climbed in bed and the room was pitch black.

"Mmm. I'm glad you did. I don't want to fall asleep without telling you good night." I kissed the top of her head and she raised up to kiss my lips. "And I love you."

"I love you, too," she sighed contentedly. After a long, drowsy pause she spoke into the dark again. "Doesn't it ever strike you that this is just too good to be true?" she asked quietly, resting her hand over my heart.

"No," I answered honestly. "I think life is supposed to be good. It's when things are bad that it seems unreal to me."

"I wish I thought that way. I don't know why I'm so naturally pessimistic."

I finger-combed her hair back from her face and down her back. "I don't know, sugar. But I plan to change that. I'm going to fill your life so full of good things that you'll come to expect them and eventually completely take me for granted."

She laughed her soft, breathy laugh and snuggled down with her cheek once again resting on my chest. "It's good to have goals."

"That reminds me. We have to go car shopping."

**Bella's POV**

I woke up early out of habit and necessity. I had to be at work by 6:30 am, but I was still waking up before 5:00 as if I had to go to the fresh markets. I snuggled in closer to Edward's side and wrapped my right leg over his left. He was stretched out full-length with one hand crooked behind his head. We had both slept so soundly we had barely moved during the night.

Sighing, I relaxed and settled in to sleep a little longer. But the sun was just beginning to rise and glow through the trees and into our bedroom and Edward slept in the nude and he was warm and smooth and solid against my skin. The many, many possibilities of things I could do to wake him up, circled through my mind, daring me to act on them.

Reaching out slowly, I ran my hand between his legs and cupped his balls. His eyebrows came together in a "V" and he took a deep breath through his mouth, but his eyes didn't open. Carefully, I massaged him, rolling the alien-feeling sacs between my fingers. A very low keening noise came from his throat and the muscles in the leg trapped beneath mine twitched. After another moment, I moved my hand up to wrap it around his rapidly growing cock. Edward began to stir and his eyelids twitched, but it wasn't until I slid my thumb up over the glistening head that his eyes flew open and he stared at me blearily, mouth open and breathing labored.

"What're you doing, sugar?" he croaked sleepily.

"Shhhh. Go back to sleep." I smiled at him and went back about my business.

He made a primal sound that ended with something that sounded kind of like, "Ha!"

"Am I keeping you…_up_?"

I loved the way it felt when he laughed when I was lying against him and I could feel it all through my body. He stretched, his muscles straining and shuddering with it, and then folded his arms behind his head, fixing his deep green gaze and wicked smirk on me. "Oh, I don't mind. You go right ahead, sugar. I'll just lay back and enjoy the show."

Oh hell. Maybe I hadn't thought this through. I was rather expecting Edward to wake up, flip me on my back and have his way with me. Instead, I was now expected to put on a "show" for him. Suddenly I felt like a pale, in every sense of the word, imitation of a porn star. I blushed and let the uncertainty show on my face, thinking he would let me off the hook.

"You know I love it when you color up like that, but you shouldn't start something you're not prepared to finish."

That did it. My inability to back down from a direct challenge overrode my sense of embarrassment.

"Oh, I'll finish it. In about three minutes." I ran my thumb over the head of his straining cock again. He bared his teeth and hissed through them.

"Bring it, sugar. I think I can hang in a little longer than that."

I just smirked at him as I sat up and straddled him, leaning down to kiss his neck before working my way quickly down, letting my hair trail over his chest. I saw no need to point out to him that he was working with the double-whammy of morning wood and Bella-induced wood _and_ that he had challenged me.

"Two and a half minutes, sugar," he said as I nipped lightly at the taut skin of his abdomen.

"Alright, you asked for it." I enveloped his cock in my mouth, taking him as deep as I could manage and sucking hard.

He arched off the bed. "Aargh! Hell, Bella, I'd like to keep that attached!"

"Then stop taunting me, you ungrateful bastard. Relax and let me make you feel good."

In response, he just groaned and closed his eyes as I went back to work. When he came _barely_ three minutes later, I slid up and murmured in his ear, "Such a good boy. So obedient," as I stroked his jawline and neck. I tried to mimic the hot, commanding voice he used to torture me in bed and did a pretty good job if I do say so.

"Come here," he demanded, grabbing my hips and pulling me forward. I didn't realize what he was doing until he had me straddling his face. Since we didn't have a headboard yet, all I could do was brace myself with my hands against the wall, trusting him to keep me from falling to the side and breaking his nose and landing on my head. He did so by hooking his arms around my thighs and holding my center hard against his mouth.

To give the devil his due, I don't think I even made it three minutes. I came with one of those screams that escapes you unexpectedly and makes you wonder for a second, _Who__the__hell__is__screaming__like__that?_ _Oh._

"Ffffuck! I think I need a nap," Edward sighed, as he worked to get his breath back.

Needless to say I went off to work with a smile on my face and a song in my heart. Not even James parking next to me and walking into the restaurant with me could dampen my mood. In fact, I kept hearing Bruce's voice saying, _"__That__punk__isn__'__t__good__enough__to__hold__your__jock,__Swan.__If__you__had__one,__that__is.__"_

Bruce had left for New York the night before and would be gone for a week, leaving me in charge once again. I ducked into the office to put my personal things in one of the bank of lockers. By the time I got back into the kitchen I heard James reading down the prep list and assigning tasks to the staff. Apparently the asshole was ready to play. Well, so was I.

Most of the staff had their backs to James, busily pretending not to hear him. They all knew he was disregarding the hierarchy of the kitchen and trying to assert dominance. Several of them shot me questioning looks as I made my way to James. I just smiled reassuringly and kept moving. I walked up and stood directly in front of the jackass.

"Do you need something? I'm just giving out the assignments." He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at me patronizingly, with the prep list folded up underneath one arm.

"That's not going to work, since you're not in charge here," I said sweetly, but loud and clear. "I thought we cleared this up already, James. I am your superior. You do not hand out assignments, you take them _from__me_. Now hand me the prep list and let's not have this conversation again."

The kitchen had gone quiet and James realized that everyone was watching, waiting to see what he would do. He continued to smirk at me, but I could see the wheels of calculation spinning behind his eyes.

I lowered my voice and leaned in closer. "What's more important to you: Saving face or keeping your job? Because, I swear to you, if you test me again, I'll have you fired."

"You can't fire me," he scoffed loudly, glancing around for support which was not forthcoming.

"I said I will _have_ you fired. If you don't hand me that list in the next ten seconds, we'll find out if I can do it." I held out my hand and waited, counting it out in my head. He caved at six. I took the proffered list and turned my back on him, getting on with the business of the day.

When we had finished up for the morning and I was getting ready to head home and check on the progress Edward and Emmett were making on moving my furniture, I asked James to step outside with me. He gave me an insolent glare, but he followed me out to the back parking lot by the dumpsters and stood silently with his arms crossed across his chest again.

"I don't know why you feel the need to keep creating problems, but it stops now or you're free to find employment elsewhere," I said, looking him dead in the eye.

"If I overstepped, I apologize, chef. In your absences lately I have taken on more responsibility and I just wasn't thinking this morning about you being here." His voice dripped with sarcasm and disdain for me.

"Don't even try it, James. No matter what you did during my brief absence, I am still your direct superior and that's not going to change anytime soon."

He shot me a look that plainly said, "Don't be so sure."

I stepped up to him and put a finger in his chest. "You don't believe me? Talk to Bruce. I have, very recently, and I don't think you're as important as you think you are around here. I'm tired of your shit and I don't care about your reasons anymore. Knock it off or leave. Period."

I got in my car and pulled out of the parking lot, but I couldn't resist the urge to look back. James had picked up an empty wooden crate and was methodically smashing it to bits against the recycling dumpster.


	23. Chapter 23 Tattoo You

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Never Sleep Outtake**

**Tattoo You**

**Edward's POV**

I had just come in the backdoor from a short run after a long day at work, when Jasper came slamming through the front door yelling like a demented Confederate soldier on the battlefield. Too surprised to even ask, I watched him look wildly around for me, spot me at the kitchen counter and make a beeline in my direction.

He slammed a bottle of scotch on the counter so hard I was shocked it didn't break. "Congratulate me, son!" he demanded, pounding me on the back. His eyes were wild and excited.

"Sure thing. Congratulations on escaping the nets, Jasper. "What the fuck?"

He laughed, letting out another ear-splitting yell, and grabbed me in a backbreaking bear hug. "I just sold a painting I completed in ten days for ten grand! Son of a bitch! I can't believe it!"

"And you drank one of those to celebrate?" I pointed to the unopened bottle in front of us.

"No, son! The client gave me that as an additional token of appreciation. I was going to share it with you, but if you're going to be smartass prick…"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Really, congratulations man! But I don't like scotch." I couldn't resist ragging him a little more.

Jasper huffed in exasperation. "I don't like scotch either, but I just made ten grand and got rid of the specter of my death and I want to drink!"

"You sold the _death__painting_? For ten grand? What kind of freak bought that and paid that much?"

"A wealthy freak with mortality issues." He went to the cabinets and grabbed a couple of glasses.

The night he got home from the hospital in Florida, Jasper had started an epically large-scale canvas detailing the surfing accident that could have killed him and me both. I told him when I saw it half completed a couple of days later that it was powerful and the colors were incredible, but that it was also morbid.

"_I__know_," he had agreed, not taking his eyes off of it. "_But__it__'__s__swirling__around__in__my__head__and__I__have__to__get__it__out.__When__I__'__m__done__I__'__ll__turn__it__to__the__wall__behind__a__whole__stack__of__canvases__and__never__look__at__it__again.__I__have__to__do__this_."

"Did the guy know what it was about?" I asked, still trying to grasp the concept. Jasper's art was somewhat abstract and representational, but he managed to convey a lot of emotion and theme in his brush strokes and use of color and the particular painting in question had been menacing and ominous in the extreme. I couldn't imagine having it literally hanging over me in my home.

Jasper absent-mindedly ran one hand over the still lurid scar visible under his recently shorn hair, as he poured out two generous glasses of scotch. "He got the feeling behind it and I told him the story. He loved it." He shrugged again and raised his glass before downing it and gasping loudly after he swallowed. "I judge not, I just cash the checks."

I downed my drink too, trying hard not to choke on it. "I hate scotch."

Jasper poured us each another one and we each took a seat on one of the couches with the bottle on the coffee table between us. "My agent brought him by for a tour of the studio after he came to a show last month and expressed an interest. I didn't think he was serious about the painting when he saw me working on it. I kept telling him that painting was just a personal exercise and not intended for sale but he kept offering me more money. I finally figured, what the hell? It's not like I wanted the damn thing staring me in the face the rest of my life."

"It's probably going to become your most famous painting and it'll haunt you for the rest of your days. Like Tchaikovsky and the fucking Nutcracker Ballet."

Jasper raised an eyebrow at me and gave me a long hard stare. "Yeah. I'm sure it'll be just like that."

"Shut up and drink," I said, setting a good example. "That's really not so bad once you get used to it. One more and I gotta hit the shower."

"It should be better than 'not so bad'. The guys said it was like $300-a-bottle scotch." Jasper pounded another glass.

"He'd probably have a stroke if I saw how we're appreciating his fine gift. We're philistines."

"Philistines? Tchaikovsky? What is with you tonight? You need to drink up and kill off the brain cells that know that shit." Jasper filled my glass again.

"Kiss my ass. You're the temperamental artist in the family. It's not like you're a Teamster or something."

"Drink!" he ordered, gesturing at my glass with his.

"'S gone," Jasper said when I held my glass out for a refill sometime later.

"Just as well," I shrugged, feeling pleasantly light-headed and heavy-limbed. "I gotta get in the shower."

"Aw, who're you tryin' to impress? I don't care if you stink. You're my brother, you always stink to me."

I snorted and went to set my glass on the coffee table, inadvertently slamming it hard against the surface and breaking it. I watched as a thin rivulet of blood appeared between my thumb and forefinger. I laughed. "That table's taller than it was a minute ago."

Jasper went to his bathroom and brought back a band-aid for me before resuming his seat on the couch.

"Seriously Ed, I can't believe you're moving to Seattle," he said as if that's what we'd been talking about all along.

"Thanks," I had to concentrate to force my fingers to open the band-aid wrapper without mangling it. "You're gonna miss me aren't you, bro?"

"I'm being totally serious, Ed. You are my brother. And you saved my life."

"Well, you got me a band-aid, so we're even."

"Fine! Be an asshole," Jasper muttered. He slouched down on the couch and glared at his empty glass.

There was a long, uncomfortable silence. "Sorry, Jas. I dunno what to say. I'm gonna miss you, too… But we're always gonna be brothers."

Jasper transferred his glare to me. "Excuse me for being a little…whatever. In my experience family isn't necessarily forever."

That got to me. Jasper never—well, rarely ever—talked about or even referred to his parents and the way they ditched him. I should've known me leaving would be harder on him than he would show ordinarily. I realized then that Jasper had been part of my family only slightly longer than he had been part of his biological family.

"In my experience, it _is_," I said firmly, trying not to slur and cheapen what I wanted to say. "Maybe you should cut your hand too and we can reaffirm our blood brother vows." I held up my band-aided thumb.

Jasper just huffed and shook his head, but he was grinning instead of glaring. "You remember how pissed Mom was when the cut on my hand got infected and we told her how I got it?"

Mom had read us the riot act for doing something so ridiculous and dangerous. When we laughed at that, she had gotten angrier and said, "You just _are_ brothers. Because you say so, and we say so. You can't change it and you don't have to prove it."

She was right and yet, now that I was moving clear across the country, it did feel like we ought to do something to commemorate the occasion.

I showered and dressed, the buzz of alcohol growing into a dull roar as I did. Jasper was almost asleep on the couch when I grabbed his arm and dragged him out the front door. I wanted to go down to Blackwater's, but driving was not an option and it was too far to walk. I went to the garage and hauled our bikes down off the hooks in the ceiling.

"I'm _not_—"" Jasper started, but I hopped on my bike and dropped his on the driveway.

"Fine. I'll have a couple shots for ya at Blackwater's!" I yelled as I took off down the road.

He was pedaling by my side before I made it to the stop sign. Twenty minutes later we were at the bar, and Jake was eyeing us warily.

"What the hell you been drinking?" Jake asked. "You smell like my grandfather on Saturday night."

"Jus' give us two longnecks, Jake," Jasper demanded cheerfully. "We're celebrating!"

Jake finally put the beers on the bar, but he shook a finger at me. "That's it, Cullen. You two are already plastered. How'd you get here?"

"Bicycles," I shrugged.

"That's okay then, but I'm not scraping y'all off the pavement on my way home."

We sat at the bar and talked and shot the shit with Jake and Seth and few other friends and acquaintances that wandered by. I saw Christy and her boyfriend dancing, but we just nodded and smiled and left it at that.

Seth slipped us each one more beer an hour or so later, and then we decided we were done for the night.

We wandered outside into the cool early fall evening and Jasper suddenly grabbed my arm hard. "Look! Goddammit, that's what we're going to do!" He was pointing at the shop three doors down: Tattoo U.

"_What_? Nope. No. Uh-uh."

"Oh come on! My friend Al works there and he's really good. Just something …something, I don't know. Something, okay? We needa do _something_ before you go."

I hesitated. That's just what I was thinking earlier, but a tattoo? The permanence was the scary thing, but I realized that was probably what appealed to Jasper. Plus, I was drunk and I only have two drunk gears: Compliant and belligerent. And I was still at the compliant stage.

"What the hell, son? Let's go."

As soon as we walked into the place, a big, bald guy sporting a full arm sleeve, but wearing a polo and khakis started shaking his head at us. "Uh-uh. Sorry boys. Sleep it off and come see us another time."

Jasper smiled congenially but looked over the guy's shoulder and yelled, "Al!"

A tall, skinny guy seemingly inked neck-to-toe, looked up from where he was applying a very delicate orchid on the hip of a very pretty woman who looked to be late her early twenties. He narrowed his eyes at Jasper and then at me and shook his head.

"Just a sec, Jas," he said, going back to his work.

Big, bald and weirdly preppy just scowled and gestured for us to sit in the waiting area while he disappeared into a small office.

"We should get tribal bands," Jasper suggested.

"No. Every guy I know with a tribal band is a douche."

"Jake has a tribal band. You didn't think he was a douche til he took Bella out."

I glared at him. "Okay, I'll get some dirt for you on the men who have tried and or succeeded in getting into Alice's pants and we'll see how funny you think that shit is."

"Shuttafuck up." He leaned his head back and rested it on the wall behind him.

"What if we got, like, a wave and the date of the accident?"

"Uh-uh. I just got rid of that damn painting. I don't want to think of that damn accident all the fucking time."

We sat lost in thought for a bit until Al suddenly vaulted the counter and was standing in front of us. The girl he had been working on was slipping out the front door.

"See you later, baby," he called to her and she flashed him a warm smile before she disappeared.

"All your clients look like that?" Jasper asked.

Al sighed and shook his head despondently. "If only. Now what the hell do you two drunk bastards want in here?"

"Tattoos," I said and then shut up fast. The word sounded weird falling off my tongue and I was suddenly really tired and wanted to go home and fall into my big comfy bed. I sat forward, resting my elbows on my knees and my head on my hands.

"Is he going to puke?"

"Nah," Jasper said. "He's good. Al this is Edward. Edward, Al. We went to art school together."

"Art school?" I repeated.

"Jasper has his canvases, I have mine. Now, listen. I'd be happy to ink you both, but I can't do it when you're drunk. We have a strict policy."

"Oh c'mon. You know I'd do it anyway," Jasper said.

"Maybe, maybe not, but I definitely don't know if _he_ would and he looks worse off than you." Al poked my foot with the toe of his ratty black sneaker.

"I'm fine. I'm good. I'd wanna tat—tattoo anyway. Too." I tried to sound as reasonable as I felt but it wasn't working out so well.

"What do you do for a living, Edward?"

"I'm an architect."

"Perfect. If I came stumbling into your office reeking of, would you build a house for me on the spot?"

I shook my finger at him, "Trick question. I don't build houses, I design the plans for them, and I couldn't do it on the spot anyway. It takes a long time to get from initial design to completion."

"Okay, Chatty Cathy, but you get my point? Do you think I'd be happy with the plans you drew up based on my drunken rambling?"

"Al, listen. Edward is my brother. He's moving to Seattle to live in two days and we wanna do something big, you know? To mark the occasion."

"Plus he almost died recently," I added, jerking a thumb at Jasper.

"And he saved my life," Jasper concluded, pointing at me.

Al stared at us both in exasperation. He grabbed a sketch pad and a pencil and pulled a chair over in front of us. "I'm not saying I'll do it, but what is it you want to have done?"

I looked at Jasper who shrugged and finally said, "Maybe each other's name?"

Looking up from his paper, he clicked his pencil top against his teeth. I heard an echoing click and noticed the tongue stud for the first time. _That__had__to__hurt__like__a__mother__fucker_, I thought.

"Oh, so you guys are '_brothers_'. Okay, cool. I didn't know. How long you been together?"

Jasper just looked confused, so I set the record straight. Literally.

"No, no. We're actually brothers. Adopted, but brothers. Straight brothers. We're not gay, we're just drunk."

Al threw the pad back on the counter and stood up. "Which is exactly why we don't work on drunks."

It took Jasper forfuckingever to convince Al he wanted to do our tattoos. It didn't usually take him that long to talk anyone into anything, but then he was shit-faced. Once Al finally caved, he had to go fight it out with the big bald guy who was maybe the owner or something. While they had a heated argument in the office, Jas and I tried to pin down the design. We were discussing getting "Cullen" but Jasper felt weird about that since he still goes by Whitlock. That's when inspiration struck and pulled out his cell phone. I listened to the one-sided exchange.

"Hey Mom? Could you take a picture of that family crest in the foyer and send it to Edward's phone? …Because. Me and Ed want it. …To copy it. …No-ooo. I'm not painting it or anything. …You prob'ly won't like it. …Ummmm. We're getting tattoos. …Yes ma'am, a little bit. We had some scotch…and a coupla beers. …Yes, ma'am." He handed me the phone sheepishly.

"H'lo?"

"Edward Anthony Cullen, what in God's name do you think you're doing?"

"It was Jasper's idea, I'm just bein' agreeable," I said.

Jasper grabbed my arm and started shaking it and whispering loudly, "Tell her about my painting. Tell her I sold that painting. Tell her!"

I shook him off and told him to shut up. "Jasper wants me to tell you he sold his death painting. For $10,000, if you can believe that."

There was a long silence and then muffled talking as, I assumed, Mom covered the phone and told Dad what was going on. "Your father says I should take the picture and send it to you," she informed me. "_I_ think I should cut a switch out of that big elm in the front yard and come down there and tan your hides."

"I think we're a little old for that," I laughed.

She didn't laugh when she said, "You'd think so."

"Mom, we just want to do something, you know, before I move away. And, of course, Jasper almost _died_ not that long ago."

"How long are y'all going to milk that particular cow? When you try to drag me kicking and screaming to a nursing home you'll be saying, 'But Mom, Jasper almost _died_.'" But I could tell from her tone that she was going to do what we asked. Sure enough, my cell rang and the picture of the Cullen crest came up. Jasper and I both thanked her.

"I hope you two know what you're doing," was all she said.

We sent the picture to Al's computer so he could pull it up and do his sketch from there. By the time he was finished, baldy had left with a curt nod in our direction and Jas and I were starting to lose our buzz.

Jasper insisted on me going first as if it were some kind of honor, but the dumbass soon came to regret the decision as I cussed and sweated like a whore in church.

"Does it really hurt that bad? Or are you just fucking with me?" He had picked up a brochure off the counter and was twisting and shredding it in his hands.

"I'm going to kill you for getting me into this. Motherfuckinsonofabitch, that hurts!"

Al was working the lion from the picture of the crest just between my shoulder blades on my upper back and every time he got near my spine I broke into a fresh wave of sweating and swearing.

"I've had teenage girls in this chair getting their tramp stamps that bitched less than you," Al told me cheerfully.

"Fuck you," I answered, not quite as cheerfully. I was well past compliant, onto belligerent and moving quickly from drunk to hung over.

When Al finally finished and reviewed the aftercare with me, I traded seats with my brother and settled in to watch him suffer, with glee. Only the bastard refused to give me the satisfaction. He made a big show of being relaxed and comfortable. Only occasionally did I see his hands clench up or his face go a little pale and a little line of sweat bead up on his upper lip.

Pedaling home somewhat unsteadily, it suddenly hit Jasper that he probably should have talked to Alice before doing something that permanent. What if she hated it? Was repulsed by it? Finally, he started sweating. It occurred to me that maybe I should have talked to Bella, too, but I wasn't going to let Jasper see me worried.

"Alice does have some pretty set ideas about things. What if she hates tattoos in general? She's not the type to just get over it."

"Shut up," Jasper shifted on his bike uncomfortably. "What about Bella?"

"Bella won't care. She's not as into appearances and all that shit. Weren't you and Alice going to honeymoon on some tropical beach somewhere, though? Gonna be hard to keep covered up if she hates it."

"Shut up."

I left Jasper sprawled out on the couch, stewing over Alice's reaction and fell into bed as soon as we got home landing on my back with a girly little scream. I turned over onto my stomach and closed my eyes tight.

"Brotherhood," I snorted, but I couldn't help smiling just before I passed out.

**I so enjoyed writing this one! **


	24. Chapter 24 Spoiling for a Fight

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter 24**

**Spoiling for a Fight **

**Edward's POV**

**February 2009**

"You see what I mean about the light, right? I'm not sure why it wasn't taken into consideration."

Dr. Heier, my client, was pacing obsessively over the soon-to-be lobby in the framed-out job site. From the beginning he had required a lot of hand-holding and reassurance over every step of the relatively simple six story medical complex.

"If you'll recall, Dr. Heier, the angle and the light _were_ taken in to consideration, but we also had to factor in street and alley access and city code restrictions."

"Of course, of course... But, surely we could get an easement from the city. I really want that top floor to make the most of that light. I think if we turned the building about 45 degrees, it would be perfect."

Turn the goddamn building. The one whose foundation was already poured. The one only two days from completely framed. I could see from the familiar stubborn set of his chin, that he was prepared to dig his heels in over this absurdity. Well, I wasn't going to get sucked into any more power struggles with Dr. Delusional. Two months on this project had taught me the futility of reasoning with him.

I took a deep breath and plastered the smile on my face. "I'm sure we could. I'll get right on that. I'll shut down the work here and if you'll meet me at the office Friday morning I'm sure I can have my new drawings and the contractor's change orders drawn up for your signature. Of course, we're looking at a cost overrun of at least $80,000, but I'm sure we can get this project up and running again in six to eight weeks."

Needless to say, Dr. Heier ultimately decided against turning the building, but not before calling the contractor and Tom Francke to the site, to confirm that I knew what I was talking about and argue the point a few dozen more times. By the time he capitulated, it was late, my head was pounding and I was ready to shove Heier off the roof, if only the building had one yet.

"I'm sorry you had to come out here for this, Tom," I told my boss as we walked out to our respective cars.

"Never mind. I was still at the office anyway," he waved off my apology. "Heier doesn't leave you much 'scope for creativity' does he?"

"Oh, I don't know. I've thought up a lot of creative ways to murder him and dispose of the body."

"As long as it's not tossing his body in before you pour the concrete for the foundation. That's been done to death." He opened his car door, but didn't climb in. "The projects will get better, Edward. Think of this as paying your dues."

I nodded. I knew I had to prove myself before I got anything really exciting to work on. "Thanks Tom. See you in the morning."

On the drive, I tried to put the day's aggravations out of my mind and focus on getting home to Bella. It was her night off and our time together was scarce lately. It pissed me off to no end that tonight had to be the night I was so late getting home. I really should have called Bella, but my phone had been dead. Besides, she was more than understanding about my workload. Often on her nights off, when I'd had a particularly grueling day, she would even run a hot bath for me and sit by the tub listening to me vent and feeding me delicious things until I was relaxed enough to put work aside and pay attention to her.

Living together had been better than I even expected. Bella was funny and thoughtful and generally easy to get along with, in spite of her obsessive cleanliness. We laughed a lot when we were home together.

My parents called every Sunday and we would put the phone on speaker so we could all talk. We tried Skype with them, but my techno-phobic mom said it gave her a headache so we stuck to the phone mostly. One particular Sunday, my mom happened to mention that she and my dad were going over to Myrtle Beach the next weekend for a shagging competition.

The look on Bella's face was priceless as she struggled for an appropriate response to such an announcement. Obviously, she felt there must be some mistake, she just couldn't quite understand what it meant. I started laughing, Bella turned beet red, and my parents demanded to know what was so funny.

"You should see Bella's face right now!" I told them.

"When are you going to grow up, young man?" my mother demanded. "Bella, shagging was a kind of dance long before it was a euphemism for sex."

"Yes, well. Yes, it's a dance competition we're going to next weekend," my dad interrupted. "But thanks for thinking we might be at competition level in the euphemism."

I blanched and Bella broke down and laughed at that in spite of herself, but she still didn't comment. She changed the subject quickly and then attacked me, tickling my sensitive sides, when we got off the phone.

We spent a lot of time with Alice, Rosalie and Emmett, and Jasper had already come to visit for a week since I had moved to Seattle more than two months before. And Bella's parents came over every couple of weeks for dinner or to play cards or whatever.

Sure there were bumps along the way, but honestly, we didn't fight much. And when we did, I was usually totally caught off-guard when I realized Bella was pissed at me. It was like the emotional equivalent of that crazy-ass ninja, Kato, who would leap out of closets or from behind curtains to test Inspector Clousseau's reflexes. It drove her crazy that I could be so oblivious to the things that bothered her, and it drove me crazy that she expected me to magically know what bothered her. But, I had to admit that usually when she got angry at me, it made total sense after she explained it.

I hit the garage door opener button and wheeled my Audi into the garage next to her Volvo. No, she was not giving up the Volvo, although she did let me switch with her now and then and she often let me drive it when we went somewhere together.

With a deep sigh, I hauled my tired carcass out of the car and let myself into the house through the inside door. As soon as I stepped inside, I could just tell something was off. There were no good smells coming from the kitchen, the house was dark except for the flickering of the TV screen from the living room, and Bella didn't call out or come to greet me in the hallway as she often did when she was home. I found her on the living room sofa, curled up under her red throw blanket, her eyes red and face puffy from crying.

"Bella? Sweetheart, what's wrong?" I felt my heart rate shoot up in fear of what must've happened to get her into this state.

I sat down beside her and tried to pull her into my arms, but she pulled away and glared at me.

"What? What is it?"

She seemed to be debating about what to say, or whether to say it. When she finally spoke, her tone was low and cold except for the slight hiccup.

"I'm glad you're not dead. I'm going to bed!" With that she jumped off the couch and stormed into our room, slamming and locking the door behind her.

What the hell? I knew I was late, but was it really that big a deal?. I usually get home around six, but it was only…I looked at my watch…shit. It was 10:17. It really had occurred to me to call her when things started running behind, but I had discovered my cell phone was dead… which I now realized also meant she couldn't reach me. I rubbed my hands over my face. Shit.

Okay, see? She had every right to be pissed. But locking herself in our room and refusing to speak to me, was hardly the mature way to handle it, was it? I could hear the shower running in our bathroom. After a few minutes of debating with myself over how to get her to stop being a baby so I could make this up to her, I had a brainstorm.

I went into the kitchen and went through the drawers until I found Bella's apron stash. I picked a thin-striped red and white apron, stripping naked before slipping it over my head and tying a bow in the back. Bella had teased me about my promise to wash dishes naked several times, but I hadn't gotten around to carrying through with it. I figured the apron added another element of humor that might get her past her anger at me. And the nakedness would probably help. She really liked me naked for some reason.

Unfortunately, Bella had all the dishes done and put away as always. Even the dishwasher was emptied. Shrugging, I grabbed a stack of plates out of the cabinet and popped them in the sink, running the hot water and squirting dish soap on top of them.

By the time the sink was filled, the shower was off. I grabbed a wooden spoon and a metal spatula out of the spinning thingy on the counter next to the stove and started banging them loudly against the sink, moving the plates around in the water and generally making as much noise as possible.

I didn't hear the door to our room open, but I definitely heard Bella's voice behind me.

"What the hell are you doing?" She tried to sound angry, but laughter was bubbling out behind her words.

"Oh! Hi, I didn't see you there," I feigned surprise. "I'm just doing up these dishes."

"Those dishes were already clean."

"Oh yeah?"

"And we have a dishwasher."

"That's true."

"And you're naked."

"Yep. How about that?"

"Edward." Her tone had changed and I knew I wasn't entirely forgiven yet. I turned off the water and grabbed a dish towel to dry my hands, before turning to her.

"I'm sorry, sugar. My phone was dead so I couldn't call you to let you know I was running late."

"You were there all alone? No one else had a cell phone?"

Shit. "Uh. Well, I guess I didn't think of that."

She sighed and pulled herself up on the kitchen island, keeping her eyes focused on mine. "I wasn't worried about it at first. I understand you're going to be late sometimes, but four and half hours? Around eight, when I couldn't reach your cell phone, I called the office and your assistant said that you had left hours ago and were headed home as far as he knew. After another hour, I started thinking you'd been in an accident or something. And then I realized that you haven't gotten your Washington driver's license yet and that you probably didn't have anything on you with our address on it. So, how would they know to call me if you were hurt, or, or…"

I laughed, but only for a split second before the look on her face had me cupping myself through the apron for protection, even as I approached her to take her hand in mine. "No! No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh! But don't you think you're overreacting a little bit?"

"I don't know. Am I? How about if tomorrow night when you're expecting me around one or two a.m., I don't show up until five or six? You'd be fine with that?"

"That's not the same thing," I said, my jaw twitching at the thought of something happening to Bella in that dark alley behind the restaurant. I constantly reminded her not to walk out by herself and to be on her guard in the alley and the parking lot.

"Well, it feels like exactly the same thing to me. It's scary," she said quietly, pulling me closer by the apron straps and wrapping her arms around my neck. "Please don't do that to me again."

"I'm sorry, Bella. I didn't mean to scare you. I just meant to swing by the Heier site for a quick walk-through, but he was there and it turned it a big production. He wanted to _turn_ the whole goddamn building so his office will get the perfect morning light."

"So you turn the goddamn building and get your ass home. Duh."

I pressed my forehead to hers and smiled, evoking an answering smile from her.

She kissed me gently on the nose. "I forgive you, but only because you have a phenomenal ass. Especially in that apron."

"So you forgive my ass?"

"You need proof?"

"Yeah, proof would be good."

She slid off the counter, walking around behind me, before kneeling and running her hands over my exposed posterior. She kissed my left buttock gently and I sucked in a breath, bracing my hands against the tile counter. She moved to my right…and bit me, hard.

"Ow! Dammit, sugar! What did I tell you about biting?"

"That you like it?" she asked sweetly, grabbing the ties to the apron and pulling. "Really Edward, I had to do it. How else will you learn your lesson?" She pulled the apron over my head and cast it aside with my discarded clothes.

"Positive reinforcement?" I suggested, pulling her into my arms.

"Mmm." She licked her lips and rubbed them lightly against mine. "Well, I'll positively cut you off if you scare me like that again."

"Right, because you could go without this." I gestured from my head to my toes with a cocky smirk.

I expected a smartass comeback, but she just shrugged in agreement. "Good point," she said with that nearly silent laugh.

Cutting out the kitchen lights, I scooped her up with fire in my eyes and dirty, dirty thoughts in my head. I carried her into the living room where the six billionth rerun of _Top__Chef_ was playing. I swear to god, that show has its own channel where it plays 24/7. Bella called it "comfort TV". I leaned down to get the remote, making her squeal thinking I was going to drop her on the floor. As if.

I turned off the TV plunging us into utter darkness. I had to feel my way the bedroom. I managed to avoid whacking Bella's head on anything, but I smacked my elbow on the doorframe and rushed across the room to drop her on the bed so I could rub the not-so-funny bone. Unfortunately, I kicked the leg of the bed, jamming it between my big and second toes, sending a jolt of pain shooting through my foot and leg that made me forget about my elbow.

From where I had unceremoniously dumped her on the bed, Bella was laughing so hard she could barely catch her breath. I heard some rustling around and then the bedside light came on.

"Are you okay?" she managed to ask.

"You seem really concerned," I said, fighting to see the humor through the pain.

She got up on her knees and moved to me, rubbing my shoulders and raking her nails lightly over my back. "I'm sorry, babe. But that was funny, you have to admit. You were going all Fabio on me and then you morphed into Jim Carrey."

"You are the most unsympathetic creature," I groused. But I leaned into her soothing fingers and sighed in spite of myself.

"Let me make it up to you," she said sweetly, pushing me to lay back.

I turned and laid back on my pillow like a good patient. Bella hadn't gotten any less bossy and I still rarely regretted blindly obeying her orders. She moved down to check out my injured foot and tsked and lamented over the bruise forming there. If it was slightly patronizing, I didn't let it bother me. She kissed her way up my ankles and calves and thighs, studiously ignoring my erection which was now all but waving flags at her like those guys waving planes in on the runway.

She finally smiled up at me wickedly, kissing my right hipbone. "You know what's good for a bruised foot don't you?" This had become a running joke with us. Whenever one of us didn't feel well or had a cut or a scrape, we brought up the "miracle cure".

"Please," I begged, getting way past the point where teasing was appreciated.

"Yes," she promised, taking me in her mouth. I loved when she sucked me. Not because it felt better than being inside her, but because it was such a completely giving act. She said she liked it because of how it made her feel to give me such pleasure, but the act itself was all for me and there was no way that couldn't make me feel fucking lucky.

She splayed one hand across my stomach, using the other to hold what she couldn't fit in her mouth. Alternating fast, bobbing strokes and slow, languid licking, she had me groaning and twitching under her.

"Come here, sugar," I said, hoarsely.

Being pretty adept at following orders herself, she kissed her way up my chest to my ear. "I wasn't done."

"Neither am I. Turn over," I said, nudging her onto her stomach.

"What about your foot?" she teased breathlessly.

"Fuck my foot."

That came out wrong and Bella broke into giggles, dropping her head down to the pillow trying to muffle the sound. She wasn't laughing a moment later when I buried my cock in her quick and smooth. She threw her head back and moaned, slamming back against me when I pulled back. Wrapping one arm around her waist firmly, I set an energetic pace.

I loved watching her this way. The sleek, delicate expanse of her back and neck, the way her hair skimmed and skidded over her shoulders, the concentrated facial expressions I could only catch glimpses of when she let me. Simply watching as we joined over and over. I wanted to spank her cute little ass; I must admit that turned me on. But she had told me in no uncertain terms that she wasn't into it unless she got equal opportunity and that did not appeal at all.

Bella's breathing sped up and her moaning had become deep enough to vibrate right through me. I knew she was close. I pulled her up on her knees and she snaked one hand up behind my neck, curling her fingers into my hair. With the other hand, she grabbed mine and pulled it between her legs where I could feel the delicate knot of nerves throbbing slightly beneath my fingertips. Within moments she was coming hard, shaking in my arms, making soft little whimpers alternating joy at the feeling and regret that it was slipping away.

I pulled out of her, turning her to lie on her back before I slid back in, cradling her close and looking into her eyes.

"I love you," she said, her eyes filling. "I don't know what I would do without you."

"I'm sorry I scared you. I'm not going anywhere I promise."

She shook her head and frowned a little and I knew she was thinking that I couldn't promise a thing like that. Things happen. I shouldn't have made fun of her fears. God knows I couldn't live without her.

"Don't," I whispered, smoothing the worry line between her eyebrows.

"Come," she whispered back, pushing everything else away and concentrating on me inside her.

When I came it was powerful and cleansing and we drifted off for a bit, clinging to each other.

**Bella's POV**

I woke the next morning to my blaring alarm feeling oddly fragile. It had been such an up and down kind of night and in spite of the comic relief Edward provided with his naked dishwashing and slapstick routine, the truth was that I had been terrified. I didn't much care if it was an overreaction. Lying there alone in the dark house, my imagination had carried me to a place where Edward was gone and the prospect of it was so bleak that it made me shudder.

I disentangled myself from Edward and slid out of bed to his mumbled imprecations to stay.

"I have to get ready for work," I told him as I did nearly every morning. He sighed and turned over without ever fully waking up. Before I got in the shower, I checked that his alarm was set since he forgot about half the time.

Once under the hot streams of water, I couldn't help thinking about how absolutely necessary Edward had become for me in such a relatively short time. It took some adjustment, but I couldn't imagine a life without Edward now.

One of my favorite things was coming home in the early morning hours after a dinner service. If he was still awake, which he was about half the time, he would wait for me to shower quickly and then we would climb into bed and talk about my night. He was interested in everything that went on at the restaurant and had a lot of insight and good suggestions. Unfortunately, the more supportive and interested in my career he was, the harder time I had telling him about Bruce's offer to run my own restaurant down South.

If he was asleep, I would take my shower, rinsing off the mingled smells of food that tended to permeate every stitch of my clothing, my hair and even my skin. I would slide carefully into bed and nestle up against him as his arms automatically curved around me and pulled me in. Often we would begin to make love before he was even fully awake.

That's not to say that everything was romance and sex and deep abiding declarations of love. This was real life and Edward was a wonderful, but very real man. I thought Sam and I had more or less lived together, but I found out pretty quickly that having a man stay over three or four nights a week and having one living in your house 24/7 were two entirely different things.

It was a bit like sharing a home with an alien who has studied our culture and does a damn good impression of human life on earth, but just doesn't really get it. Things that seemed like absolute common sense to me, made Edward frown in deep concentration trying to understand.

About a month into our cohabitation, a slew of petty little grievances combined with a raging case of PMS caused me to go off on Edward like a landmine. He made one wrong move and KA-BLAM! I was unloading every possible thing I could think of, no matter how miniscule.

It started with leaving dishes in the sink, but without any water in them so that everything crusted over and was twice as hard to scrub clean. I progressed through puddles of cold water on the bathroom floor, to a billion little specs of hair from when he shaved, left all over the sink and counter, to leaving his free weights lying wherever for me to trip over. By the time I was done, I felt purged, but also a little guilty at the stunned and confused look on his face.

"Look," I said much more gently, "this is new for both of us. We're going to get on each other's nerves sometimes. I'm sure I do stuff that drives you crazy, too."

"Um," he hedged, thinking hard. "Well, I do kinda hate it when you slurp the water from your toothbrush after you rinse."

I was dumbfounded. After me unloading on him for a solid ten minutes, toothbrush slurping was the only thing he could come up with? I felt like the biggest bitch on the planet. For the next week, I waited on him hand and foot, trying to make-up for being so critical and mean…until I tripped over another one of his freaking free weights, left lying almost hidden under the edge of the living room sofa. I fell into the coffee table and wrenched my back something fierce. I was lying on the floor with my feet up on the couch, trying to mitigate the radiating pain, when Edward came home.

"We need to talk," I said darkly.

Ultimately, I promised to work at not hold everything in until I blew up out of all proportion, and Edward promised to work at picking up after himself better and not just expect the magic house fairies to do it for him. Okay, maybe I added that last part, but that was the pain talking.

A knock on the bathroom door brought me out of my reverie. "You coming out of there today? Or do I have to come in?" Edward threatened.

I turned off the water and got out of the shower, wrapping up in a big fluffy towel. "Sorry. I wish I had time for you to come in, but I've got to rush."

Edward kissed my cheek and hugged me tight to him. "Sorry about last night, sugar."

"Why? I thought last night was pretty good," I teased.

"I mean about coming home so late and making you worry." He kissed the top of my head and then pulled back to look at me with a smirk. "And the other part was better than 'pretty good'."

It was a cool, gray morning, but not raining for once. I pulled into the parking lot right on time and jumped out of my car with a smile on my face. Edward was good to me. Our life together was getting better and better. And even though I had let go of an opportunity by turning Bruce down, I didn't regret it. I hadn't even waited the full three months to make the choice. I knew what my answer had to be and I couldn't see any reason to keep Bruce waiting. Bruce had accepted it with good grace, even saying he was somewhat relieved not to be losing me from Beck's.

Although, I had struggled with the decision, I had chosen not to tell Edward about Bruce's offer to run my own restaurant in the South. I knew he would drive himself crazy trying to figure out a way to make it happen for me. He had already proven the lengths he would go to for my happiness, I couldn't let him give up his chance to have the career he'd always wanted so that I could have mine right now. There would be time and other opportunities.

A movement caught from the corner of my eye, made me turn to look. I was surprised to see James, leaning against his low-slung black car. He had his arms crossed over his chest except when he lifted one hand to take a drag on his smoldering cigarette. His legs were crossed at the ankle and he didn't look like he had any intention of heading into work anytime soon.

"Morning James," I called, waving as I went.

He stared impassively at me and took another drag. I paused in midstride and stared back for a moment trying to figure out what was going on. And then I remembered that I didn't care and shrugged as I continued on to Beck's. I was surprised again, to find Bruce standing at the edge of the alleyway watching me and James. He motioned to me to come along and I hurried my step.

"What's going on?" I asked him as soon as I was in his earshot.

"Come on into my office," he said in a tight, controlled voice.

He steered me in through the backdoor and into his cluttered office with his hand protectively on the small of my back. He motioned me into the desk chair and took a seat on the edge of the desk.

"I had to let James go this morning."

"Oh. I knew something weird was going on. What happened?"

"He's been getting on my nerves like you would not believe the last couple of weeks. I knew he wasn't sucking up that hard because he wanted to take me to prom, but the jackass gave me an ultimatum this morning—either I give him the head chef position at the new restaurant or he walks." Bruce shook his head in disgust. "As if I couldn't replace him by this afternoon."

"So he did know about the new restaurant plans?"

"Apparently so, although I don't know how. Anyway, I told him there was no way in hell he was anywhere near ready for that. I also told him not to threaten me again." Bruce's expression darkened. "That's when things got ugly."

"How so?"

"He started throwing out accusations—just random hateful bullshit. So I told him to go ahead get the hell out. It got ugly, Bella, and he had a lot of nasty stuff to say about you."

"I can't say I'm surprised. He's been angry at me for months. I can't say I'm sorry to see him go, either. It's been stressful trying to work with him and always wondering what he's going to do next."

"Well, that's what has me most worried, now," Bruce admitted. "I'm not kidding when I said he was angry with you. He accused you of sleeping with me to get ahead, called you a whore. He said you were going to be sorry. I'm afraid he blames you more than me."

I rolled my eyes. "I couldn't a give a rat's ass what James thinks of me. And he's not going to do anything. He's just trying to save face. Don't worry about it Bruce."

"Don't be so quick to dismiss him, you didn't see him freak out. Ask anyone out there," he gestured to the kitchen. "They had to have heard every word. Watch out for him, Bella. And don't walk to your car alone anymore. One of the guys or I will walk out with you from now on."

I fought the urge to refuse. Bruce was trying to help. And James was a creepy son of a bitch. It couldn't hurt to be on the safe side. When I went out into the kitchen and saw all of the nervous, furtive or just downright curious glances from the rest of the staff, I was more convinced that accepting a little extra protectiveness was a good idea.

It was nearly one-thirty in the morning before I got home. Edward had a fire going in living room fireplace. While I was in the shower he opened a couple of beers for us and then we settled on the couch.

"You are a wonderful, wonderful man," I sighed, kissing his slightly scruffy chin.

"Tell me about your day," he said, using his standard opener.

"Only if you promise to stay calm."

Edward shifted us so he could look at my face. "And why would I need to promise something like that?"

"James got fired today."

"Hallelujah. I've hated that skuzzy little fucker since the first day I laid eyes on him."

"I know. I'm not sorry he's gone either, but there may be a problem…"

"Stop stalling, Bella. What's going on?"

"He was pretty pissed about getting sacked and he blames me. He told Bruce he was going to make me sorry."

Dark red splotches of color appeared at the top of Edward's cheekbones and his eyes were blazing with the flames of the fire and his anger.

**A/N: Uh-oh. Edward's pissed and James is creepier than ever! What do you think is going to happen? Wrong! lol**


	25. Chapter 25 SeveralWaystoLoseYourLover

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter 25**

**Several Ways to Lose Your Lover**

**Bella's POV**

I knew Edward would go overboard when he heard James had threatened me, but this was getting ridiculous. The past three nights Edward had been waiting in the parking lot to follow me home from work. I accepted that, because James is a freak, and I would be equally worried if someone had threatened Edward.

But now, I walked out of work with Buck, one of the prep cooks, on security detail, to only to find Emmett's ridiculously huge phallic symbol of a Jeep parked right next to my Volvo. Emmett was leaning against my trunk with a dumbass grin on his face.

"That's my brother," I told Buck. "Thanks for walking me out."

"Anytime, chef," Buck said with a little cough before ducking back into the restaurant.

I stalked up to Emmett. "This has to stop. Did Edward recruit you for babysitting duty?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, sis. I was just out for a—" he consulted his watch "—1:31 a.m. drive and I thought I'd swing by and see what's cooking."

"I'm fine. Everything's fine. James is nowhere to be seen and hasn't been heard from. Do me a favor, will you? Get Edward an egg to hatch or something. He needs a hobby other than mother hen-ing me."

"Go easy. So he's a little over-protective and I don't mind indulging him, we want to be sure you're safe. That's not exactly bitch-fit material, is it?"

"I suppose not." I took a deep breath and forced myself to relax. I had to keep reminding myself that Edward, and now by extension Emmett, was just looking out for me and that that was a good thing. "Thanks for protecting me from the boogeyman."

"Anytime," he echoed Buck. Shifting a little on his feet, he said, "Now look, as long as I'm here, there _is_ something I really need to talk to you about."

He seemed a little nervous, which made me a lot curious. "Follow me home. I'll feed you and give you a beer and you can pour your heart out."

When we reached my house, I left Emmett in the kitchen and went into the bedroom to find Edward doing a poor job of pretending to be asleep.

"Go ahead and play possum, Edward. Emmett wants to have a heart-to-heart and you're not getting any tonight, anyway."

"You're mean," he said without opening his eyes.

"Mean enough to take care of myself?"

When I didn't get an answer I sighed, "I know you're worried, hon, but this is getting out of hand. I already promised not to walk out to the parking lot alone, I didn't say anything about you babysitting me. But now you've sicced Emmett on me."

Edward opened his beautiful green eyes at that and grinned. "I didn't actually. He volunteered. Must be something big he wants to talk about."

"Well, I'll go see. You lay here and think about what you did," I said with mock seriousness.

"I love you."

"I love you, too. Get some sleep. I'll be in to bed in a while."

Emmett was pawing through the cabinets like a bear just awakened from a long winter's hibernation. I got a container out of the fridge and set about heating it up in a sauté pan. It was the same pasta and steak dish I had made the first time Edward met my parents and one of Edward's favorite meals, but he had to learn the consequences of unleashing Emmett on me.

We sat at the kitchen table and Emmett dug in like the aforementioned bear for several minutes before he sat back with a groan and took a big swig of his beer.

"Okay, here's the thing," he finally started, stretching his arms out in front of him and clasping his hands. "I asked Rosalie to move in with me."

"Em! That's great. It's about—"

"She said no."

"Oh… Oh, god, I'm sorry."

"Actually, she said hell no, threw me out of her apartment and told me not to come back."

"_What_?" I was floored. Rosalie and Emmett fought ferociously when they fought, it's true, but in spite of that, they were a seemingly stable and deeply committed couple almost from their first date nearly two years before. "She broke up with you?"

"I don't know. I guess. 'Don't come back' seems pretty permanent. She's not taking my calls." He shrugged, staring down at his hands.

"Have you gone back over there?"

"No. I don't know what to say. That's why I came to talk to you. What do I do?"

For the first time I realized that underneath his usual affable, big lug demeanor, he was miserable and hurting. He still wouldn't make eye contact.

"Tell me exactly what happened," I prompted him.

His face lit up with the genetic Swan blush and I knew he had done something to provoke Rosalie's wrath.

"Tell me _exactly_ what happened," I repeated with new emphasis.

"Night before last we were lying in bed, you know, _after_. And I started thinking about whether to stay over and go home to change for work early or whether I better just go home and get a good night's sleep."

I motioned for him to keep going when he hesitated.

"It just got me thinking: Alice and Jasper are getting married, you and Ed are living together and haven't killed each other yet, so maybe me and Rose should, you know, give it a shot."

I stared at him for a moment. "Please tell me you didn't say _that_ to her."

Emmett's face got even redder and he looked back down at the beer bottle he was rolling between his hands.

I wanted to tear into him about what a lame, half-assed, downright offensive way that was to ask your girlfriend of two years to move in with you, but I couldn't do it. He already knew it, judging by the look on his face.

"It just came out. I didn't think it through and by the time I was done, she was getting dressed and throwing my clothes out in the hall. I've pissed her off plenty of times, but I've never seen her so…so sad. Like I ripped her heart out. That's why I can't face her."

"Oh, Em. You have to face her. But first, you need to decide what you really want and why so you can tell her. If you aren't sure she's the one and you just want to 'give it a shot' then you should break up now and let her move on. Trust me as someone who was taken for a test drive and rejected—"

My brother recoiled as if I'd punched him. "That's not it at all. I love her completely and without a doubt she's the one."

"Then how come you haven't proposed or at least asked her to move in before?"

"Because things were perfect the way they were. We were perfect. She liked living with Alice. I had a place to go when she was pissed at me. It was perfect."

"And you were content to just leave it at that forever?"

"Not forever. I just, you know, I've seen it happen where a perfectly good relationship is ruined by a wedding. Everybody starts fighting over the stupid flowers and shit and it just turns into a big clusterfuck. I want to _be_ married to Rosalie. I just don't want to _get_ married to her. Or anyone."

"Do you know how she feels about it?" I asked. "From all the comments she's made about Alice and Jasper's 'spectacle', I'd say she might be open to something less traditional. And besides, we weren't talking about marriage we were talking about you two moving in together."

"I know, but one generally leads to the other. I wouldn't ask her to live with me if I didn't think we'd end up married. Aren't you and Ed talking about it, yet?"

It was my turn to blush hotly. "No, we… that's—we're not talking about me and Edward. Stop changing the subject! Do you want Rosalie to move in with you?"

"Yes!"

"Then you have some serious damage control to do and then you need to think of a much better and more sincere and _loving_ way to ask her."

"That's the problem, sis. Rose hates anything romantic or sentimental or cheesy. How do you romance a woman who hates red roses, chocolate covered strawberries, love songs, candlelit dinners and every other romantic thing I can think of?"

"This one I know: She doesn't hate romance, Em. She hates predictable, clichéd romantic gestures that say nothing about you and her. You have to think about what she _does_ like and do that."

Emmett finished his dinner, chewing thoughtfully, the wheels spinning in his head. Finally, he pushed his empty plate away. "She loves 80s music and old muscle cars and money."

"Good, good…but let's leave money out of it."

"I just meant she loves her job—working in finance and all."

"Still, whatever you decide, leave money out of it. Trust me," I assured him. I was just imagining the ways he could end up making Rosalie think he was comparing her to a whore or a gold digger. As much as I made fun of Emmett, the truth was that he was a very intelligent man. He just had an unfortunate disconnect between his brain and his mouth sometimes.

Sitting back in his chair, he nodded thoughtfully at the tabletop. I got up and got him another beer and took the one with the shredded label out of his hands.

"You want to crash in the guest room?"

"Sure, thanks," he shrugged, before downing half the beer in one swallow. "She's never kicked me out before. She's threatened to John Wayne Bobbit me, kick my ass, put out a hit on me, you name it. But she never threw me out and told me not to come back."

I debated between blind reassurance and honesty. "Em, it must've sounded to her like you were saying, 'What the hell, I guess we might as well move in since everyone else is.'," I said gently. "Maybe she's not ready, or maybe she's been waiting for you to ask, but either way that was not a flattering way to do it."

"Yeah, I got that," he grunted, testily.

"The point is, _I_ think it was the way you asked that's the problem and you can fix that."

He nodded again and then sighed deeply. Finally he stretched and used the motion to reach over and cuff the side of my head less gently than he probably thought.

"Jackass." I kicked him in the ankle under the table.

"Shrew."

We grinned at each other.

"So, these babysitting gigs pay pretty well." He indicated the empty plate and bottle. "When's the next one?"

I groaned. "Hopefully never. I'm off tomorrow and we're going to some dinner for Edward's professional association and then I'm off the next night. Maybe by the next time I go in, Edward will be over this."

"I know you're a tough cookie, Bells, but you're no match for a man with a grudge who's bigger than you. It's not a judgment on you, just simple biological fact." He held his hands up to ward off any sharp retort I might have intended to make. "Do you really believe that James is no threat whatsoever?"

"I don't know. I find it hard to believe that he is. I mean, he was pissed about getting fired and he's a sneaky, conniving little weasel, but does that mean he's a total psycho who would actually try to physically harm me?"

"Better people have done terrible things for less reason."

"Deep."

"I'm serious, Bella. I don't really know the guy, but if he threatened to do something in front of all those people, I would come down on the side of caution. Sounds to me like his ego took a beating and for some people that could push them over the edge."

I got up and put his dishes in the sink to soak. I was even going to let them soak overnight and wait to put them in the dishwasher in the morning. I was growing.

"I got it, Em. Stop trying to freak me out. Why am I still getting all the lectures, even though I have agreed to be on my guard?"

"Okay, I've said my piece. I'll leave it alone. Thanks for letting me crash and the food and…all," he said, giving me a rough one-handed hug and messing up my hair with his big paw before turning to head down the hall.

"Anytime," I assured him as I kicked him in the back of the knee.

When I called Rosalie's cell phone the next morning, she answered on the first ring. "Did your brother tell you to call me?"

"No."

"Liar."

"He didn't, Rose, but he did tell me what happened and that you threw him out. Are you really done with him?"

She was quiet for a moment and I could hear the muffled bustle of the bank behind her. A more distinct clicking sound was probably her tapping away at her computer keyboard.

"Of course not," she finally sighed. "Just do me a favor and don't coach him, okay? Let him figure out his next move on his own. I need to know if he comes through and I cave, that I'm dropping my panties for him, not you."

"Nice. You are one classy broad, Rosalie Hale. I don't care what anyone says about you."

She laughed, "Neither do I. Now, do you promise not to help him?"

"Well, I may have tried to point him in the right direction—"

"Bella!"

"Nothing specific I swear, and I will butt out from here forward."

"Okay…thanks. Want to meet for lunch tomorrow?"

Sudden inspiration struck, "Better yet, let's you and me and Alice have a full-on girls' night tomorrow evening. We're not going to get too many more of those before the wedding."

Rosalie promised to call Alice and get back to me with where and when. I tried not to think about the fact that in less than two months Alice would move to South Carolina and another huge part of my life was going to change forever.

I always thought that architecture was a fascinating field; a blend of art and science, imagination and engineering.

And then I sat through a series of ungodly long speeches and presentations and a dinner for the AIA Seattle, the professional association of architects. A room full of architects apparently trying to out-dull each other with conversations about exterior wall widths and egress windows and city codes.

At one point Edward, and a sharp-faced man in his early fifties, and a woman whom I originally mistook for someone's sullen teenage daughter, but who was actually a colleague, got very close to a shouting match over the use of sheet metal versus aluminum as facing for something or other. At that point I was wishing I had a sheet of metal to bang my face on over and over. The physical pain would've been a welcome relief from the metal anguish these conversations were inflicting on me.

My feelings must've been written all over my face, because Tom Francke, who was seated across from me, suddenly leaned toward me and said, "Wait til the meal is over and the open bar gets going."

I grinned, "Are you saying I'll find this more interesting when they're all drunk?"

"Probably not, but you might find this all more bearable when _you_ are drunk," he said, with a perfectly straight face besides the slightest hint of a raised eyebrow.

I laughed and raised my wine glass to him before polishing off its contents. "I don't mean to be rude, Mr. Francke. I do find architecture very interesting. It's just that the technical aspects…"

"Call me Tom, please. They asked me to give a speech tonight on 'Viable Materials for Green Building'. I said I've never hated anyone enough to do that to them. Designing buildings is one of those things that's fascinating to the people who do it and dull as dirt to everyone else."

"Kind of like cooking. People don't want to hear where each ingredient came from and how you put them together, they just want to taste good food."

"Exactly." Tom finally cracked a genuine smile. "That's right, you're the head chef at Beck's downtown."

"Executive sous chef," I corrected. "I work for Bruce Tyler."

"But when he's gone, which is most of the time, she runs the place," Edward chimed in.

I shot Edward a look. Last I knew, he was completely engrossed in his own conversation, but apparently he had been following mine for some time. I was oddly uncomfortable with Edward bragging on me. "Bruce is not gone that much."

"Regardless," Tom broke in, "Beck's is one of my favorite restaurants and I'm very impressed with you, Miss Swan. May I escort you to be first in line for the bar?"

Laughing, I let him lead me to the bar on the other side of the room. I glanced back at Edward, as we stood in the line that had already formed. The expression on his face was a mix of things I couldn't quite read, but then he smiled that smile that was just for me and I answered with one that was only for him.

Tom and I talked food for a little bit after we got our drinks and Tom introduced me to his wife, Lydia. She seemed equally bored with the food conversation as I had been with the building conversation, so I asked her what she did.

"Nothing very glamorous, I'm afraid," she said defensively. "Just raise four children. Mostly on my own." She cast a dark look at Tom who missed it entirely as he greeted someone new.

I wasn't sure how to respond to that, but I tried. "How old are your kids?"

"You don't have to pretend to be interested, you know," she said sincerely, tears welling up in her eyes. "I apologize for being rude. It has nothing to do with you."

With that, she excused herself and headed toward the restrooms. I felt terrible for her, but I didn't know her at all and doubted I could offer any comfort. Hoping that Tom and his wife were just having a bad night and that things would be okay, I excused myself and went in search of Edward.

Another of Edward's colleagues, Dan Bradford, whom I had met a couple of times before, stopped me with a hand on my arm. "Bella! Good to see you."

He introduced me to his girlfriend and the other couple standing with them and we found a few common topics to chat about, but I kept glancing around for Edward who was nowhere to be found.

A few couples began to venture out onto the newly cleared dance floor as a mediocre band played forgettable music. It wasn't my kind of dancing, but easy enough to fake

I danced with two of Edward's colleagues and had two more mixed drinks before I finally found myself in Edward's arms. He pulled me close, one hand splayed on my lower back, as if he was expecting someone to try to cut in and did not plan to let me go.

"You're quite the little charmer this evening, aren't you, sugar?" he asked, a playful possessiveness flickering behind his eyes.

"This evening? Are you implying that I'm not charming on other evenings?" The alcohol was making me relaxed and pleasantly light-headed.

"I would never imply such a thing. I'm saying a roomful of admiring men certainly brings out the best in you. Every man in this room wishes he were me right now." Edward's voice was low and his lips were so close to my ear that his warm breath was making me shiver.

"Hmm. Even if that were true, I wouldn't care. I only care that you are happy to be you. I mean, to be you with me," I dropped my head to his shoulder. "I just totally ruined the moment, didn't I?"

He laughed, as he moved me around the floor easily. "You're a little toasted, aren't you?"

"Maybe a tad bit."

"I did tell you how very much I like this soft, silky…um, clingy dress, didn't I?" Pulling me even closer so that you couldn't have fit a piece of paper between us, he made his approval of my bright blue halter dress abundantly clear.

"Can we go home yet?"

"Soon. So, are you happy-horny drunk or fall-asleep-in-the-car-on-the-way-home drunk?"

I looked up into his face, fighting the urge to start making out with him in front of his boss and colleagues. "The sooner you take me home, the better your odds are."

Within minutes, Edward had said good night to everyone he needed to and we were outside in the cold, damp night. He held me firmly to his side, leading the way to my car. I looked up to say something to him, but the words caught in my throat.

Across the busy four-lane thoroughfare, a car was pulled over in the emergency lane. A low, black sports car. I didn't know what kind it was, but I knew who it belonged to. James leaned against it in just the same position he had the morning he was fired. He stared at me in the glow from the streetlights.

Edward glanced at me and then followed the direction of my gaze. When he saw James, he tensed and made a move to go after him, but there were at least a hundred yards and four lanes of traffic between us. James stood with a sickening smile playing across his face, got in and drove off with a screech of tires.

"Get in the car!" Edward demanded, opening my door.

"Don't be stupid, we're not going after him," I said, crossing my arms across my chest.

"No, of course not. I'm taking you home and then I'm going after him."

"You'll never find him by that time. And what's the point? He didn't do anything but stand there."

Edward laughed harshly and motioned to me again to get in the car. This time I complied, thinking I could talk some sense into him on the way home. Once he climbed in, he whipped out of the parking space, through the lot and into the traffic headed towards our house.

"Do you really think I don't know where that fucker lives? I did my homework after he made that threat, Bella. I haven't done anything, because he didn't, until tonight."

"He's just being a jerk. All he did was stand there."

"He's trying to intimidate you."

"Well, it's not working, so just drop it."

Without another word we drove home. Edward's hands were so tight on the steering wheel, I was afraid the skin across his knuckles would burst open. My mind was racing with what James's intention was. Was it a coincidence that he just happened to see my car there or was he following me? It seemed like a restraining order would be a good idea, but what do I tell the judge? That a former co-worker kept looking at me? I imagined that would go over about as well as when I said that to my parents about Emmett when we were kids.

Edward pulled into the driveway and waited for me to get out of the car. His jaw was set and twitching.

"You're a grown man, Edward, you don't—"

"Exactly!" he yelled, startling me. "And _I_ will take care of this. If you had just listened to me about that asshole in the first place…"

"Then what? What could I have done differently? How is this my fault?" I had never seen Edward so angry; I could feel that his rage was taking over any sense of logic or common sense, and it was scaring the hell out of me.

"I don't know," he lowered his voice with effort. "I know it's not your fault. But I am not going to wait around for him to actually do something to you."

I reached out to touch his face, trying to calm him. He tensed and then leaned into my hand. I said, "I really don't believe James has any intention of doing anything to me. I'm more concerned that he's trying to lure you into doing something stupid. If you lay a hand on him you could end up in jail for assault."

A dismissive scoff was all the response I got on that one, but he didn't pull away from me.

"I think Emmett was right. James got his ego bruised because Bruce told him he wasn't near qualified to run the new restaurant." I sighed, scratching his beard scruff gently.

"What new restaurant?" he asked. His eyes were closed as he enjoyed the petting.

Shit. This was the worst possible time to go into this, but I was not going to lie outright. I had been uncomfortable enough with the sin of omission.

"Bruce is planning to open a new restaurant and he's looking for a head chef. James thought he was a shoo-in, because…because I turned it down."

I dropped my hand to my lap as he turned to face me, his brow furrowed, eyes suspicious.

"What do you mean you turned it down? Why would you do that?"

"The new place isn't going to be here in Seattle. I had to turn it down," I said, making myself speak up with confidence, even though I was afraid of what his reaction was going to be. "It's not a big deal, hon, there will be other opportunities."

Edward was quiet for a minute. "So, where is it going to be? And why does James blame you, if you turned it down?"

"I think he knew about it before I did," I admitted. "I think that's why he tried to sabotage me every chance he got—trying to put himself in a better light. It all made more sense when Bruce finally offered the position to me when I came back from Florida."

"When you came back from Florida? Why didn't you tell me about this? Where is this new restaurant?"

"It's not for sure yet…someplace down South." I rushed to continue when his eyes widened in surprise. "You were on your way here, you had your dream job, there was no reason to go into it."

Edward got out of the car in a sudden jerking move, closing the door just short of a slam. I scrambled out on my side and stood watching him warily as he stood breathing in the cold night air.

"There was every reason to go into it. I have a right to have all the information when _we_ are making decisions about _our_ life together, don't I?" He turned his electric gaze on me. "You thought I wouldn't know how to be in a fully committed relationship, but I don't think I'm the one who has trouble with it. You're still handling everything on your own without even giving me a chance."

"No, I'm not! I mean, I didn't mean it that way. I didn't want to stress you out just when you were starting with Tom. I wanted to be here with you more than I wanted that job. Is that so terrible?"

"Of course not," he scoffed. "But why didn't you just tell me that?"

I tried to choose my words carefully, knowing I was in dangerous territory. "Because you just kind of take over a lot of the time, Edward. This was my decision to make and I didn't want you making it for me."

"I take over how? When have you ever let me or anyone else take over?"

I was getting angry. He was calling me a control freak, refusing to acknowledge all the ways I had ceded control to him in our relationship.

"I don't get a chance to 'let' you most of the time, you just steamroll over me! And that's fine most of the time, but not this time. I wanted a chance to sacrifice for us, just like you did in leaving your family and friends for me. But I knew you would get all noble and male and not let me do it."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he demanded, and I could hear the southern inflection that had been rapidly diminishing since he moved to Seattle.

"I know it's just part of your upbringing, but you have that whole 'I'm the man and I must protect my weak little woman' attitude and sometimes it's too much for me. Just like this thing with James tonight. You're still itching to get back in the car and go after him just because he looked at me wrong, and you don't care that I don't want you to go."

"And you're so determined to do everything for yourself, by yourself that you make me feel like a favorite piece of furniture in your house. You love me, you want me, but you don't really need me."

Taking a chance, I rounded the car and went to him. "That's not even entirely true. I need you in the sense that I would be miserable without you in my life. But for the day to day stuff, I am a capable adult. Isn't that a good thing? Do you want some simpering bimbo who can't make a decision for herself?"

"Don't be ridiculous. You know that's not what I mean." He crossed his arms over his chest and the gesture wasn't lost on me. He didn't want me to come any closer or touch him.

"Fine. _I__'__m_ being ridiculous, but you running over to James's house to beat him up like a teenager is perfectly rational. I'm going inside."

I expected him to follow me and argue more. Or maybe to call to me to wait. Maybe to run after me and grab me. I made it into the house without any of those things happen. Standing in the foyer, I listened for his footsteps.

Hearing the car start up and back out of the driveway, was the last thing I expected.

**A/N: We haven't had a big cliffie in a while, and I was afraid I might be losing my reputation for evilocity. Now Bella and Edward are fighting for real, Emmet and Rosalie are sort of broken up, and James ruined what could've been a lovely lemon, damn him!**


	26. Chapter 26 Sorry the Hard Way

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter 26**

**Sorry the Hard Way**

**Edward's POV**

Before I even got all the way down our street, I felt like an asshole. I wanted to turn back and take Bella in my arms and tell her I was sorry. Except that I wasn't sure why I should be sorry for anything but taking off in the middle of our first big fight since we'd moved in together.

Was I really supposed to feel bad for wanting to protect her? And how the hell could she justify not telling me Bruce had offered her a goddamn restaurant? And what the fuck did she mean about me steamrolling over her? That would be like trying to steamroll over a brick building!

As I thought it through, I felt the anger flaring up again and I kept going. I drove around the block, fighting the urge to go to James's apartment a little over a mile away and personally deliver the beatdown he'd been begging for—that's when two things hit me at the same time. First, James could go to our house and attack Bella while I was off having a temper tantrum. And second, I might be getting a little paranoid. Was James really a threat or just a moody little prick with a bruised ego?

The next pass around the block, I considered going over to Emmett's to vent and take a little time to cool off. But, first off, Emmett would never let me hear the end of it and second, paranoid or not, I couldn't leave our street.

Finally, I parked at the curb a few houses up and called Jasper's cell phone.

"Ed?" Jasper's voice was half-asleep, laced with panic. "What's wrong?"

"Shit, son, I forgot about the time difference again." It was after eleven our time, so it was after two in the morning in South Carolina.

Jasper cursed under his breath for a moment. "I was having the best damn dream, man. I hate you right now."

"Sorry. Go back to sleep, seriously."

"Shut up and tell me what's going on."

"I'm sitting in Bella's car on the street a few houses up from ours."

"She threw you out?"

"No, we had a fight and I left…but Rosalie did throw Emmett out a couple of days ago," I deflected.

"Yep, I heard about that. What's wrong with y'all? Does the rain soak the sense out of you? What are you and Bella fighting about?"

"A bunch of shit. James showed up tonight and she got pissed because I wanted to go after him. And then come to find out Bruce wanted to give her a restaurant of her own, but she turned it down without even telling me, because it's not in Seattle."

"Damn."

"That's not all. She says she didn't tell me because I 'steamroll over her' and that was her decision to make."

"Mmmhmm."

"Are you listening to me?"

"Yep, but I'm not sure what to say. Last time we had this talk about your pathological need to be in control, you got a little heated with me."

I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose trying to rein in my irritation. If two of the people who know me best in this world both agree that I am a steamroller, maybe I had to accept the fact that it may be true.

"Edward?"

"I'm here."

"I'm not saying she's right and you're wrong, but try to see her side. Go home. You're lucky you have the option to be right there, even if it's just to yell at each other in person."

I knew Jasper was feeling the separation from Alice even more since I'd been gone, too.

"I know. I was going to just take off. Like go over to Emmett's or something, but I couldn't seem to leave our block. I think I might be whipped, Jas."

He snorted, but wisely said nothing on that subject.

"Go home, Ed. Call me tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah. Good night."

"Night."

I hung up and sat staring at our house. No porch light, no inside lights visible. Bella was probably in our room and had no interest in welcoming me home. I was feeling calmer and ready to talk, but would she be willing? Would she be crying? Pissed off and ready to start throwing things? Or maybe she had locked me out of our room and would just give me the silent treatment.

The thing was, I still believed I had a valid point about her hiding such a major development in her life from me, but I had sort of shot myself in the foot of the leg I had to stand on, by running away from the argument.

On the other hand, she had walked away first, going into the house and just expecting me to follow like a dog… Aw hell, I should've done it.

I thought Bella would hear the garage door opening and know I was back. Letting myself in the inside door, I dropped my keys on the table just to the left.

"Bella?" I called. I could hear music from our bedroom and I didn't want to startle her.

After a long pause, she said, "In our room."

It looked like her closet had exploded. For a moment I thought she was packing to leave me, but there were no suitcases. I realized she was cleaning; sorting through clothes to get rid of. She glanced at me in acknowledgment when I came to stand in the doorway, but said nothing. Led Zepplin's D'yer Mak'er was pouring from her iPod dock, as she continued replacing some clothes in the closet, taking others off the hanger and putting them in a big shopping bag to give away. The dress that had been driving me crazy all night was hanging in the closet, replaced by a disreputable pair of gray sweats and an oversized red t-shirt.

"Are you going to speak to me?"

"No. You left," she shrugged. She muttered something under her breath.

"What was that?" I asked, coming a little farther into the room and leaning against the wall.

"All the times you bitched at me and made fun of me for running away…" She shrugged again, casting me a quick, dark look.

"I know. I'm sorry. If it makes you feel any better, I only went around the block a couple of times and then I just sat in the car. I called Jasper."

Bella rolled her eyes at that, but said nothing. She turned her back again, going to the closet with another armload of clothes. When she turned toward me again, I was right behind her. I grabbed her hips and she gasped and glared at me, but she didn't pull away.

"I know you're angry, and I'm angry, too, but please stop turning your back on me. I hate it!" The last came out harsher than I intended.

"How do you think I felt when you _drove_ away?" She poked her forefinger into my chest and pushed. "And I didn't know if you were going after James or even whether you were coming back tonight."

"I'm sorry. I don't know what else I can say. It was wrong and I knew it as soon as I did it."

"And yet, it took you half an hour to come back and apologize." She pushed again, her finger jabbing into my chest muscle.

"That actually kind of hurts, Bella."

"Then back away. You're the one invading _my_ space."

"No," I snapped, grabbing her finger and holding it in my fist. "I'm sorry I left and I'm sorry if you think I steamroll over you. That's not my intention."

"You're sorry _I__think_ you steamroll over me?" she jerked her finger away from me and turned back to the pile of the clothes on the bed again.

Something snapped in me. I was angry and stressed and guilty and just desperately wishing I could rewind this night back to our dance at the AIA dinner. I grabbed her from behind and pulled her back against my chest.

"I asked you to stop turning your back on me," I growled, my mouth next to her ear.

She took a deep, shuddering breath and said, "Edward, I m just still pissed off."

"So am I," I agreed, but I didn't let go of her. I dug my fingers into her hips and dropped my mouth to her shoulder.

It could have gone a couple of ways, frankly. I figured she was either going to rip my clothes off or rip my balls off. Regardless, it was better than her cold, distant anger.

She stood stock still, arms to her side, but she didn't stop me. I let my lips trail up her neck, to the sweet spot behind her ear, and down again across her shoulder, pulling her over-sized t-shirt to the side so I could reach her better. With one hand, I held her, while I used the other to slide up under her shirt. I felt her shiver against me and she let her head fall back against my shoulder. But still she said nothing and didn't reach for me.

"Bella?" I was asking for permission and forgiveness.

Finally, she turned and wrapped her arms around my neck, turning her face up to mine and bringing my lips down to hers. She kissed me greedily, granting permission, but not forgiveness. _Fine_, I thought, as a surge of lust that felt a lot like anger slammed into me. I bit her bottom lip a little harder than I meant to. She shrieked, pulling back to glare at me, but before I could decide if I wanted to apologize, she was kissing me again and pulling me hard against her.

The urge to punish her and the need to protect her were warring within me. Bella didn't seem to be having any such dilemma as she shoved me, throwing off my balance and crashing us both into the wall. She viciously and efficiently worked my belt and fly open, and jerked my pants down to my ankles. I stepped out of them and kicked them the rest of the way, as she slid her loose fitting sweatpants easily down her legs. Her ratty t-shirt was gone a second later. I didn't bother taking off my shirt and loosened tie.

I lifted her off her feet and she obligingly wrapped her legs around my waist. Turning so the her back was against the wall, I maneuvered a little awkwardly until I could grab my cock and position it so that I could push up into her as I let her slide down onto me. Bella's strangled yell and moan made me think I had really hurt her, but then her legs clasped harder around me and she was pulling up and slamming herself back down on me. I kept it going as long as I could, until my thighs and calves and stomach muscles were screaming with exhaustion and both of us were sweating. I staggered away from the wall and stumbled toward the bed.

"No!" Bella said forcefully. "The floor."

I lowered us to the floor, too needy and physically wrung out to argue or ask why. Wrenching off my tie and shirt, I laid on my back and Bella took over, riding me with a punishing pace. Her face and chest were flushed, her damp hair curling around her hairline, eyes half-lidded and smoldering. I just lay back and watched her for several minutes, enjoying the graceful fierceness in the lines of her body and the expression on her face.

Pushing up to a sitting position, I moved one arm around her lower back and nudged her shoulder until she was leaning back against my forearm. She put her hands on the floor behind her and wrapped her legs around my waist to help support her weight. The shift in position made her wilder than ever; she locked eyes with me, her intensity fueling my need to make her come. I needed to remind her of one of the many ways I took care of her.

I rocked my hips up into her as I grazed her nipples with tongue and teeth. When she came, I got to see it all because of the way she was leaning away from me. And when she was spent, she wrapped herself around me and held on, her body trembling like a plucked wire.

Once again, I repositioned us; she was lying on the floor and I was on top of her, looking down at her face as I continued to thrust into her. She was sated; now focused on me, and her energy had shifted from angry to grateful. And then she was giving me everything, running her nimble fingers through my hair and down the taut chords of my neck, over the straining muscles in my back. She was pushing her hips up against me, stroke for stroke, her eyes remaining on mine, willing me to release inside her.

"I just want to take care of you," I panted, instantly wondering why the hell I would say that right now. She shook her head at me, but she was smiling. Well, maybe smirking, but still.

"I just want to take care of _you_," she informed me, placing her feet flat on the floor beside us and thrusting hard up against me.

The wave of bliss rolled out on my nerve endings, feeling a lot like heaven and a little like being electrocuted in a warm bath.

I dropped down partially on top of her, but off to one side to keep most of my weight from crushing her slender body. For one of the few times in my life, I was tongue tied. All the things I wanted to say either seemed flippant or overly lovey given the events of the evening, or were too likely to start round two of the fight.

As we caught our breath, the sweat we had worked up began to cool on our skin. I reached up to the bed and grabbed the light blanket Bella kept folded at the foot and covered us both. After a moment, the music that had faded into the background, suddenly filtered into my consciousness again. The Beastie Boys were shouting about sabotage.

"Bella?"

"Hmm?"

"What the _hell_ are we listening to?"

I felt her start to laugh before I heard it. Her whole body began to shake with her uncontrollable giggling. I tried to remember what else had been playing the last forty minutes or so. Seems like some Van Halen was in there somewhere, maybe a Pearl Jam selection.

"It's an old weight lifting playlist of Emmett's from high school. Very testosterony, no?" she asked, when the giggles began to subside.

"Ah. That would explain it," I smirked.

Bella sat up, clutching the blanket to her . "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Bruce's offer. I was trying to do the right thing, but I guess I knew it was a bad idea to hide it from you."

"I don't want you to ever feel like you can't tell me something. Especially something that important."

She frowned and bit her bottom lip. "I really don't think you understand how much influence you have over me…you have had since the day we met."

"I just want to take care of you," I told her again. "I'm sorry if that's not what you want."

She reached out and touched my face, running her fingertips from my forehead down to my jaw. I let myself relax into the gesture, a feeling of relief sweeping through me.

"That's not entirely true. As long as I can remember, I've been the one to take care of the people around me. And I liked it—I liked being in charge. But then you came along and all of a sudden I don't have to be in charge all the time."

This is what I wanted to hear. I grabbed her hand and kissed her wrist.

"But, also, I don't _get_ to be in charge. I'm still trying to figure out how to let you lead without becoming a follower. I'm just not a follower…and I'm sorry if that _is_ what you want."

That, I had to think about for a moment. "No, I don't think that is what I want. I don't want to run your life for you, I just don't want you to run it as if I weren't a part of it."

She rolled her eyes at that. "How can you even say that? If you weren't a part of my life, a huge part of my life, I would have taken that job!"

I sat up quickly. "Aha! There! That's what I'm talking about. You gave up something monumentally important to you and I don't like that. Maybe we could have figured things out so you didn't have to, but you didn't tell me!"

Bella buried her face in her hands and screamed in muffled frustration. "There was no way to 'figure things out' without us being separated again," she said through gritted teeth when she looked up at me. "Can't you just accept that being with you was more 'monumentally important' to me than taking that job?"

Of course the fight was over with that nicely played little gambit.

"Yeah, sugar, I can accept that," I said with a grin.

"Say it again," she demanded, grabbing my arm.

"I can accept—"

"Not that! Call me sugar. You haven't called me that all night, not even _during_."

I pulled her to me and kissed her long and slow and sweet. "I'm sorry, sugar. For running off like that and for steamrolling over you. I'll try not to."

"And I won't hide things from you anymore—if I can help it."

I rolled my eyes at her. "Can we get in the bed? I have a serious case of rug burn on my ass."

"Oooh. Did I get a little rough with you, sweetie?"

Growling, I stood up, lifting her into my arms and tossing her on the bed. "I'll show you rough, if you don't watch yourself."

She just giggled. "I'm not afraid of you. You would never hurt me."

"That," I said, kissing her again, as I lay down beside her, "is absolutely true. So, why didn't you want to get on the bed earlier?"

She blushed magnificently and looked away. "You'll think it's stupid."

"Maybe, but you promised not to hide things from me anymore, just about 30 seconds ago, so spill it, sugar."

"Manipulator," she said, narrowing her eyes at me. "What we do in this bed…it's always been loving, you know? Sometimes intense and all, but still. But what we were doing tonight was different—I was angry. I know I was a little rough. I just, I guess, I didn't want that in our bed."

I couldn't hide the smirk on my face, "Okay, the bed is for making love, the floor—and the wall—are for fucking."

"Edward!"

"What? I was just paraphrasing."

"I'm going to sleep now, because I'm too tired and sore to get pissed off again," she declared, pulling the covers up around her neck and turning on her side away from me.

"Bella, we still have some things to talk about. We have to do something about this situation with James."

"Tomorrow," she murmured.

"Okay, tomorrow, but don't think I'm letting this drop," I warned her.

She snorted inelegantly, which I took to mean she would never dream of thinking I would let anything drop. I slid under the covers and pulled her close, feeling relieved that we were okay again, but still uneasy about James. Was I overreacting? Or was something bad headed our way?

**A/N: Am I forgiven? Next up is Bella, Rosalie and Alice's girls' night, Emmett's attempt to make-up with Rosalie, and the revelation of James's evil plan—or lack thereof. **


	27. Chapter 27 Every Breath You Take

**A/N: A couple of readers have asked me to warn them of any extreme violence or attempted rape scenes: I respect you all too much to spring anything like that on you. I really don't want to give too much away, but nothing I would consider disturbing in that way is planned for this story. We're at the angstiest part of this story now, but above and beyond all, this is a love story. **

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended. The songs referenced belong to their respective creators and no copyright infringement is intended. The stories published under this account are the sole property of WndrngY. They may not be copied, published or posted elsewhere without my express written consent which I do not give at this time.**

**Chapter 27**

**Every Breath You Take**

**Bella's POV**

"What are you wearing?" Edward's deep, teasing voice over the phone was enough to make me blush, which made Alice roll her eyes.

"Clothes," I answered without elaboration. It didn't matter, Alice could hear Edward loud and clear.

"And where are you right now?"

"We're—"

"Don't you dare!" Alice hissed. Louder and leaning toward the phone, she said, "None of your business, Edward! This is girls' night and you're not invited!"

"Jeez, she's getting bitchy without Jasper," Edward complained, losing the sexy timbre to his voice.

"I can hear you!" Alice replied.

I covered my cell phone with my hand as I edged out of Alice and Rosalie's hearing range. "Stop antagonizing Alice, please. She is on edge, but you of all people should be a little sympathetic."

Edward's put-upon sigh made me smile. "I didn't mean to antagonize her, I was just missing you."

"I'm missing you, too. But text me next time, okay? I can hide that a lot better."

"I hate texting, but I'll do it for you. Will you tell me where you're going, just for my peace of mind?"

It was my turn to sigh, but I held it in. This morning had been lovely, but tense, as we had negotiated the terms of what each of us could live with in terms of dealing with James, Edward's over-protectiveness, and my need for some independence.

Ultimately, I had agreed to call the police and explain the situation and let them decide whether it was something they needed to get involved in. It was late afternoon by the time a uniformed officer came out to the house and took all of the information. Surprisingly to me, he did take it seriously.

"_Could be nothing," he agreed, when I half-apologized for bothering him, "but what if it isn't?"_

_Edward coughed, not so discreetly, and said, "That's what I told you!" without actually saying a word._

"_This is how a lot of stalking situations get started. I can't promise you that we'll get a restraining order on him, but I'll be contacting your boss and your co-workers who heard the threats. If we can get statements from them and you'll come down and swear out a complaint, you should be able to get it."_

_I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I really just wanted the whole stupid thing to go away. I hadn't done anything to James, no matter what he thought and it was just completely unfair that I should have to be dealing with this. I nodded, but my lack of enthusiasm for that plan must have showed on my face, because Edward frowned and the officer shook his head wearily. _

"_I can't make you follow through on this, Miss Swan, but if you were my wife or daughter or sister, I would want you to do it. If nothing else, you could keep this from being a waste of my time and the taxpayers' money," he smiled slightly, but I knew he was serious. _

"_I'll follow through," I said. "I already promised." I shot Edward a little smile and he squeezed my hand._

"_In the meantime, be especially aware of your surroundings, try to have someone with you when you go out, and keep a record of any contact Mr. Hunter makes with you, even if it's just making his presence known where you are. And keep your doors locked at home and in your car."_

"_Wow, I feel safer already," I joked feebly. The cop was freaking me out more than James ever had. Mainly, because I realized his precautions were probably born of experience in other stalking cases. _

_Officer Evington was an average looking man with a nice smile, who looked to be in his late thirties. He broke out the smile now, shaking his head again. "It's not my job to make you feel safe, just to make sure you actually **are** safe."_

_I blushed at the implication that I was looking for false reassurance instead of being smart and protecting myself. "I know. I appreciate you coming out here and I'll go file a complaint as soon as I get word from you that you have enough evidence."_

_After the officer left, Edward grabbed me in a big, tight hug. "Thank you for doing that. I hope it turns out to be entirely unnecessary."_

"_Me, too," I agreed, holding him closer. _

But even with all that, and my reassurances that I would be cautious and that Rosalie and Alice and I would stick together, Edward still needed to know exactly where I was going.

"Fine," I said, "but so help me if you turn up on girls' night..."

Edward just laughed.

"We're having dinner at Rocco's and then we're going to PJs to listen to some live music. After that we're going back to Alice and Rose's place to eat ice cream and complain about men."

"As if you have anything to complain about," he scoffed playfully.

"Right, because you are perfect at all times. That's actually what I'm going to complain about: How tiresome it is not to have anything to complain about, because you are so utterly perfect."

"I'm choosing to ignore the sarcastic tone."

"I'm choosing to hang up now, Mr. Perfect. I've got a girls' night to get back to."

"Have fun, sugar. I love you."

"Love you, too."

"_I__love__you,__too,__Edward_!" Alice mocked in a high squeaky voice, when I hung up.

"He's right, you are getting bitchy without Jasper around," I shot back.

Rosalie snorted, "It's not lack of orgasms. They're on the phone or on Skype all night long. You should hear the noises coming from her room."

"Jealous?" Alice said archly.

"Yes, actually," Rosalie admitted. "I know it's by choice, but I hate sleeping without Emmett. That idiot."

"He hasn't called you, yet?" I asked.

"Not since I talked to you. Have you talked to him again?"

I shook my head in the negative. "Sorry. I don't know what he's waiting for, but I know he—"

I stopped when Rosalie held her perfectly manicured hand up, palm out. "I'm not dropping my panties for _you,_ remember?"

The waiter, probably a UW student from the look of him, had just approached the table and stood staring apoplectically at Rose. He recovered himself quickly and smiled, "Can I, uh, start you ladies out with a drink?"

"Panty droppers all around!" Alice cried, attracting attention from several nearby tables.

"No, no," I assured the waiter quickly, to stop him from writing down the order. "She's kidding. I'll have a gold margarita, no salt."

"Apple martini, please," Alice amended.

"Panty dropper," Rosalie said, with a slightly menacing sweetness. The boy tripped over his own feet as he fled to the bar.

"Don't get that boy all worked up, he has other tables to tend to," Alice admonished.

Rosalie just grinned and adjusted her cleavage a bit. She looked spectacular as always. Although she was clearly unhappy about the current state of her relationship with my idiot brother, the strain was not having any ill effect on her radiant good looks.

Alice, on the other hand, was beginning to worry me. She was dressed to perfection as usual, nails done, every hair in place, but the expert make-up job couldn't hide the circles under her too-bright eyes, or the tense set to her jaw. Her face was showing the strain of her prolonged separation from Jasper and the elaborate wedding planning.

"Are you okay, Ali?" I asked, once our drinks were delivered and Rose had asked the waiter for a few minutes to look over the menu.

"Of course not! I'm fabulous. When have you ever known me to be just okay?" she demanded archly, but her eye contact was brief and unconvincing. I took it to mean that while she was not really okay, she did not want to discuss it at the moment and I let it go

Dinner was delicious and entertaining with the show Rosalie put on for our waiter, whose name turned out to be Danny. He was a good sport and a good server. When Rose found out he was a rising senior at UW in the finance and accounting department, she gave him her card and told him to call her about a possible internship.

"That was nice. Do you think you might really have something for him?" I asked as we were leaving.

"Maybe, if his grades and references are good," she nodded, thoughtfully. "I like finding kids that have worked their way through school. Saves me dealing with the snot-nosed pricks who've never worked a day in their lives. They walk in the door looking for the office with their name on it and I just don't have time to break all their spirits. I'm a busy woman."

"I thought you broke their spirits in your free time for fun and entertainment," Alice said.

"It's lost its appeal over time," Rose said with a grin.

PJs is a downtown club that often features live music. The owners, Zane and Mark, are friends of Rosalie's and often call to give her a heads up when they have a particularly good band playing. Tonight was one of those nights, and we decided to take a chance on the unknowns booked for the evening on Zane's recommendation. The marquee declared the band was called Triumph which sounded to me like either an 80's-style hair band or a Christian rock group. Either way, it didn't bode well.

Name aside, however, the band was awesome. We walked in after their first set had started and the place was already alive with the fervor of good music and eager fans. The music was a sort of rock/pop/punk blend, and all original songs. The musicians looked like they may have arrived on their skateboards, they were that young, but definitely talented.

Mark spotted us first as we hunted out a table, and took us to one near the front that had been reserved for a bachelorette party.

"Bitches didn't show up," Mark complained. "After I made an exception for them and everything! We don't take reservations, you know."

"We know," Rosalie agreed, kissing him on the cheek. "But you're a soft touch."

"That he is," Zane cut in, slipping his arm around Rose's waist.

I must admit that I had a crush on Zane the first time I met him. Until Rosalie let me know the Zane and Mark were a couple. Mark is openly and effeminately gay, but Zane caught me by surprise. Not that that was hard to do. I had a friend in college whom I knew for four months before he told me he was gay and the thought had never occurred to me.

"Mark, they need you in the booth. There's some problem with the sound. Or maybe the lights. Or something."

Mark rolled his eyes and stormed off.

"I'm glad to see you ladies here, tonight," Zane said. "Enjoy the show and I'll talk to you after."

"Thanks, hon," Rosalie said.

"Anytime. Listen, seriously, don't run off. I have something new I want to show you after," he said, waiting for her to promise before he went to attend to the running of the club, whatever that entailed.

"Wonder what it is," I said.

Rosalie just shrugged and turned her attention to the band.

By the time the first set ended, we were all getting a little hoarse from cheering and screaming. We agreed unanimously to stay for the second set, using intermission to talk and dance a little to the house music. The second set, was every bit as good as the first. When it was winding up, Rosalie got up from the table and excused herself.

"I'm going up front to get us all CDs," she said. "These kids are going to be huge someday."

Alice was more than a little tipsy, heading toward outright drunk, but she seemed happier and more relaxed now.

"I'm gonna miss this when I'm gone," she said, leaning her head on my shoulder.

"We'll still do this whenever we get together, Ali. You'll come here, we'll come there…"

"It won't be the same, though," she sighed. "And it's going to be a little sooner than you think."

I nodded for a moment before her words sank in. "Wait. What? When?"

Alice scooted over to my side of the booth. "At the end of the month. I know! I'm sorry," she said hurriedly when she saw the look on my face. "I've been putting off telling you, because I knew you were going to look like that. And I'm gonna cry."

She wasn't kidding. Her eyes welled up before she finished speaking and a moment later, the tears were spilling down her cheeks.

A sensation like the floor had given way under my feet, made me cling to the edge of the table in front of us. "Why so soon? The wedding isn't for another two months. The end of the month is…is like two weeks away. What about your job? Does Rose know? Did Edward know?"

"No. no. I wouldn't tell anyone before you. I was going to tell you and Rose both tonight. I didn't mean to just blurt it out like that. I just have to go. Think about how you felt when you and Edward had decided to be together, but you still had the entire country between you."

When she put it that way, I had to understand, didn't I? But I still wanted to cry.

Zane took the stage as the band walked off. "Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for coming out tonight. If you liked the band, be sure and show your support. There are CDs and t-shirts for sale out front."

The crowd had begun to slowly disperse, some were leaving, some heading for the bar. The noise level was rising, but seemed curiously flat without the thrum of music behind it. Zane's voice was deeper, more theatrical when he began again.

"And now for something totally new and different here at PJs: The rest of the night is going to be 80s Night. To kick things off we have a…well, a unique experience for you. For one of you in particular. Ladies and gentlemen, and especially Miss Rosalie Hale, please welcome Journey to Hell!"

The unmistakable strains of Journey's _Any__Way__You__Want__It_ blared from the sound system as Alice and I looked everywhere for Rose. Our attention was diverted back to the stage before we located Rose in the crowd.

"Oh my god!" Alice screamed over the music. "Is that..?"

"Emmett!" I yelled, knowing he wouldn't hear me over the music. He was on stage in the most hideous black mullet wig imaginable, lip-syncing Steve Perry's vocals:

_She loves to laugh  
She loves to sing  
She does everything  
She loves to move  
She loves to groove_

"I can't believe he's doing this," I yelled to Alice.

"He's not the only one!" She pointed to what I had somehow overlooked in the shock of seeing my brother make a complete ass of himself: Edward and two of Emmett's friends were on stage with him.

It took me a moment to register what their spastic flailing was. They were an air band. At least Edward wasn't wearing a bad wig. I swung between shocked, nervous about what Rose's reaction was going to be, and impressed with their willingness to embarrass themselves. The thing was, after some initial confusion, the crowd was totally with them. Cheering and singing along.

I took another look around and saw Rose stumbling toward us, hands full of CDs and t-shirts, mouth open, eyes wide and fixed on Emmett's pseudo-crooning:_  
_

_I__was__alone  
I__never__knew  
What__good__love__could__do  
Ooh,__then__we__touched  
Then__we__sang  
About__the__lovin'__things_

Rosalie sat down at our table with a graceless thud, never taking her eyes off of Emmett. "What the hell is he doing?"

I just shrugged and sang along with everyone else, locking eyes with Edward who grinned a half-cocky, half-embarrassed grin and winked at me. He looked completely ridiculous and yet, still the best-looking, sexiest man in the room. It takes a rare man to pull off air guitar with that kind of finesse.

_She said, Any way you want it  
That's the way you need it  
Any way you want it._

Zane ran out and handed Emmett the real mic as the song ended. My sweaty, bright-red-in-the-face brother ripped the wig off. Unfortunately, his own hair didn't look much better at that point. The women in the room started screaming and screeching like he'd ripped off his pants, but he didn't have eyes or ears for anyone but Rosalie.

"Rose? Come up here, baby?" he asked, looking intently at her.

She stared at him, still open-mouthed, but didn't move.

"You look simple-minded. Close your mouth and move your ass, Rosalie Hale!" Alice hissed, pulling her to her feet and taking all the stuff from her hands. Rosalie didn't even glance back at us, just made her way straight to Emmett, letting him pull her up on stage.

"I'm a jerk and I should've done this a long time ago." The crowd started yelling and cheering again. "Well, maybe not _this_ exactly, but _this_." He knelt down before her, pulled a ring box from his pocket and held it out to her. "Any way you want it, Rosie. You can have me any way you want me, if you still want me. We can live together, or keep things the way they are, but I'm hoping you'll marry me, because I love you and I can't stand being away from you."

Rosalie snatched the ring box, whipped the ring out and slid it onto her ring finger, bringing laughter and more yelling and whistling from the audience.

"Are you gonna marry him?" Zane called from the wings.

Grabbing the mic, Rosalie said, "Hell yes, I am!" And the crowd went wild. A lot of the guys in the audience booed.

Emmett, Rosalie, Edward, and Emmett's friends, Tyler and Ben, came back to our table and we broke out the champagne and celebrated as the 80s hits kept coming.

As soon as he was in arms distance, Edward grabbed me and pulled me close. "Are you ever going to be able to sleep with me again after that?"

"Sleep, yes. Sex? I'm not so sure…"

"Let me make you sure, sugar," he growled playfully and kissed me not playfully at all.

"Yeah, I'm good, I'm sure," I said with a goofy grin when he finally let me go. I said hi to Tyler and Ben who were in Emmett's class in high school.

Tyler held his hands over his heart as if he were mortally wounded. "You didn't wait for me? I thought we had an understanding." I just rolled my eyes. Tyler was harmless, sweet, really, in a cavity-inducing sort of way.

Emmett and Rosalie were locked in each other's arms, whispering in one another's ears, so I decided to wait to offer my congratulations. I glanced around and realized Alice was missing.

"Where's Alice?"

"She said she was going to the bathroom. I think she needed a minute," Edward murmured to me. "Are you sure she's okay?"

"I'll tell you all about it later," I promised, kissing him on the cheek. "I need to go talk to her, right now."

I interrupted Rose and Emmett long enough to give them each a big hug and congratulations before excusing myself to the bathroom. Before I got there, I met Alice coming back. She was grinning more like her normal self.

"Do you hear the song?" she shouted over the sound of Queen's _Another__One__Bites__the__Dust_. "I think Zane and Mark had a field day with this playlist. Did you hear _Addicted__to__Love_?"

"I heard it. Can you believe Rosalie and Emmett are engaged?"

"I'm just surprised it took this long."

"Alice, are you really okay?"

"I am, I swear. I just got a little choked up, you know? I was thinking if Jasper was here he could've been up on that stage making a jackass of himself, too. And that just made me think of everything we're going to miss being so far way from all of you." Her eyes filled again, but she didn't let the tears fall, laughing at herself instead. "There may be a little PMS involved in this, too. Lately all I want to do is cry and eat."

Pulling her to me, I hugged her hard. "You have every right to be emotional, PMS or not. I wish I knew what to say, but I'm struggling with the same things. Just know we're always going to be best friends."

"I know!" She clung to me for a moment and then let go, carefully wiping the pads of her forefingers under her eyes to stop her mascara from running. "That's enough of that. We'll talk more later. Let's get some panty droppers to take back to the table, Rose'll love it."

We joined the considerable line at the bar, killing time by singing along with Duran Duran's _Is__There__Something__I__Should__Know._Alice and I knew all the lyrics to all of Duran Duran's songs, thanks to Rosalie.

"_I__blame__her__mother_," Emmett told us once when Rose was playing the entire Rio album over and over. "_She__was__a__hardcore__Duranimal.__She__went__to,__like,__three__of__their__concerts__while__she__was__pregnant__with__Rose__and__played__those__albums__constantly_."

"_I__was__born__in__the__wrong__era_," Rosalie had sighed dramatically. "_I__was__built__for__excess,__big__hair,__neon__bright__clothes,__rampant__consumerism!__Do__I__look__like__a__girl__meant__for__the__grunge__look_?" She shuddered and then grinned.

In jarring contrast to our musical step back in time, Alice's cell phone began to play _Need__You__Now_. I had to laugh since, last I checked, Alice detested country music almost as much as I did; now she had Lady Antebellum set for Jasper's ringtone and I recognized it. My, how times had changed!

"Step out front where you can hear," I told her. "I'll get the drinks."

Alice skipped off quickly, her phone to her ear. After another few minutes, I finally made it to the bar and managed to snag a bartender's attention. I turned back to watch the dancing while I waited, watching the crowd, who had come to see a neo punk band, go nuts as _Sweet__Dreams_ by the Eurythmics came on. Emmett and Rosalie were in the middle of things, practically levitating with their happiness.

"Isn't that sweet?" an eerily familiar voice asked.

"Get the hell away from me, James." I turned to find James leaning on his elbows against the bar. My drinks were on the counter and the bartender was just turning back to add a maraschino cherry to each glass.

"I'm just getting a drink." James shrugged, staring at me insolently.

I gave the bartender a twenty and picked up one of the drinks to take a sip, trying not show my nerves. "Get it somewhere else. If Edward or Emmett sees you talking to me—"

"I'm terrified." He laughed, his eyes glittering with excitement.

I decided that continuing this conversation was stupid. I needed to find Edward.

"Have fun, _chef_," James mocked me as I walked away, balancing two drinks in one hand and finishing off the one in my hand. It wasn't quite as sweet as I was expecting, but at that point I didn't really care.

Rosalie grabbed my arm as I made my way across the dance floor. "Triple-fisted drinking?" she teased.

"These two are for you and Alice," I gestured, sloshing their drinks. "I have to find Edward. James is here."

"What? Where?" I pointed to where he had been, but the snake had slithered away. I guess he was a little more worried about Edward or Emmett getting a hold of him than he let on.

Rose grabbed Emmett and they followed me back to the table.

My head was pounding. No matter how hard I tried to lie perfectly still, it throbbed painfully. Several people were talking in hushed, angry voices in the next room. I wondered vaguely why they were angry. Edward's voice cut through the fog in my brain, but I couldn't make out what he was saying.

Oh, so slowly and carefully, I pried my eyes open. The effort was excruciating. My stomach began to roil, as my head pounded harder. Within moments, I had no choice. I had to drag myself upright and try to get to the bathroom. I didn't make it out of the bed, but I managed to grab the trash can to throw up in. The pain in my head and stomach was nearly unbearable and tears coursed down my face while sobs tore from my throat between retches.

"Shhh. Shhh, it's okay. You're going to be okay, my Bella." Edward was there, holding my shoulders and trying to soothe me.

I felt a cool washcloth on my forehead. "Oh Bella, I'm so sorry," Alice said softly. I looked up to meet her eyes, filled with anguish and guilt.

"It's not your fault, Alice," Edward reassured her. _What__isn__'__t__her__fault_? I wondered. _And__is__it__my__fault,__whatever__it__is_?

When my stomach was finally empty, I laid back against the pillows, exhausted. "What's going on?"

Alice and Edward exchanged a look I didn't understand. Had I gotten completely wasted drunk and done something terrible? I had no memory of anything after walking toward Edward at our table, with Rosalie and Emmett right behind me.

"Later, sugar. You need to get some rest and get feeling better, now." Edward had the washcloth now and he was bathing my face gently.

"I'm sorry," I started to cry again. "I never drink that much. Did I embarrass you?"

Edward's face darkened with anger, but he quickly overcame it and tried to smile reassuringly at me. "No, you didn't embarrass me and you didn't drink too much. This isn't your fault. What do you remember from last night?"

I was confused for a moment, but when I tried to recall anything from the previous night, James's face popped into my head and it all clicked into place.

"He put something in my drink, didn't he?" I whispered, without meaning to. The shock that someone, even James, would do a thing like that, was overwhelming.

"Yes, the bartender can place him right next to your drinks and the doctor is sure that it was GHB or something that works the same way. They don't have the blood test results back yet."

"What doctor?"

Alice interrupted, "You really don't remember any of this? We've been at the hospital most of the night and you were conscious for a lot of it."

I started to shake my head, but the pain made me whimper and press my palms into my eyes. "No! I don't remember anything about any hospital."

Layers of guilt and anger and hopelessness settled over me. I pressed my face into Edward's chest and let the sobs tear out of my chest. He wrapped his arms around me and held me against him, stroking my hair.

"I am going to kill that son of a bitch!" he said quietly, but with such menacing force, that I didn't doubt he would do it if he got the chance.

"Don't!" I sobbed harder. "Let the police take care of him."

The room was too quiet for a long moment. When I got myself under control, Edward heaved a deep breath and pulled me closer. "He's disappeared, Bella. They're looking for him, but…"

But, for the moment, he was still out there. And now I knew what he was capable of and I couldn't begin to doubt that he was capable of worse.

**A/N: Before you ask, James didn't know which drink Bella would drink from. He didn't care which of the girls got dosed, he just wanted to make it clear that he could get to her, even if it was through her friends. **

**In other news, I don't have any firsthand knowledge of the specific protocol for getting a restraining order in Seattle or the effects of GHB or its derivatives. I did some research, I manipulated the facts to fit my story's needs, and I hope you'll let any small inaccuracies slide in the interest of enjoying some good old-fashioned angst. :D **


	28. Chapter 28 Coming and Going

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter 28**

**Coming and Going**

**EPOV**

"Move your ass, sugar! Y'all are gonna miss your flight," I called into the house from the front porch where I had been waiting for ten minutes. Ever since Bella told me she was all ready to go and then ducked back inside for one more thing she forgot.

"All right, all right! God, you're grumpy this morning," she groused, finally coming out of the house with two books and a different pair of sunglasses than the ones on her head.

I smacked her ass as she passed me, making her squeal. "Maybe that's because you're leaving me for a week."

We got into my Audi and I drove like a bat out of hell toward Alice and Rose's apartment to pick them up on the way to the airport.

"You're not really upset are you?" Bella asked after a couple of minutes.

"No, of course not. I think it'll be great for you to get away with Alice and Rose. I'm just sorry I can't come this time." I picked up her hand and kissed her wrist. While I wasn't happy about Bella leaving, I felt she would be safer and happier away from Seattle for a little bit. I tried to distract her, "I think this is going to make the transition a lot easier for Alice, too. She has been crazier than usual lately."

Bella made a noncommittal noise at the back of her throat and tried to school her features into nonchalance. I hope she never takes up poker.

"What?" I asked, glancing at her.

"Nothing," she shrugged, looking six kinds of guilty.

"What?" I repeated more insistently.

She sighed, huffed, and turned in her seat to face me. "You can't say anything."

"About _what_?"

"You have to promise first. You can't say anything to Jasper or Emmett…or Alice."

"Sugar, tell me what the hell you're talking about or I will pull over on the side of the road and sit there until I know your plane has left without you."

"Alice is pregnant!" she blurted out.

I drove along a little further, digesting this bit of news when it struck me: "I can't tell Alice. You mean, _Alice_ doesn't know Alice is pregnant?"

"I don't think so. I mean, either it hasn't occurred to her or she's just in complete denial. But Rose and I were talking about it the other night and it all adds up; the moodiness, the crying, the eating. And Rose has been monitoring her use of feminine products—"

"There is such as a thing as too close, you know," I griped. "Has she been throwing up?"

"No, I don't think so, but not everybody does that, especially really early on."

"I think you may be jumping to conclusions," I finally said.

"Maybe. Maybe not. We'll find out once we're down in Hilton Head," Bella grinned mischievously.

"How? What are you going to do, hold her down and force her to pee on a stick?" I laughed, but Bella just looked guilty. "Bella! That's just wrong on so many levels!"

"No, no. Nothing like that. Just trust me. If it's true, you'll know all in good time.

I was too confused and afraid to ask any more questions, so I just kept driving. When we pulled up to the girls' apartment, I leaned over and kissed her. "I am going to miss you so much. Take good care of yourself, okay?"

"I will. You, too," she said softly. "And…please don't do anything stupid."

I nodded. I knew what she meant. James was still evading arrest. No one had seen him since the night he drugged Bella's drink two weeks before. The complete lack of contact; that eerie feeling that he was _out__there_ somewhere, was getting to us both. That's one reason I thought this trip was a good idea. Jasper and the rest of my family would take good care of Bella, Alice and Rosalie. In the meantime, Emmett and I were baiting a trap for James. I felt bad about misleading Bella, but as far as I was concerned what I was doing was not stupid. It was necessary.

Parking at the curb at Sea-Tac, I ran in, grabbed a luggage trolley and loaded up their bags. Well, I loaded up Alice and Rosalie's bags as they sat in the Audi keeping warm, Bella insisted on getting out and helping me.

"I can get this," I assured her, giving her a quick peck on the lips.

"I know you can. I just want to be close to you for as long as possible, okay?"

Setting down the bags in my hand, I pulled her tight against me and kissed her hard until a quick honk from behind us, broke us apart. I glanced back to see a grandmotherly-looking woman sitting behind the wheel of a Cadillac sedan, giving is both an enthusiastic thumbs up.

"Oh, sugar, what am I going to do without this blush for a week?" I murmured in her ear as she grinned at the woman.

Not for the first time, I really felt what we all lost with the new airport security measures. I had to stop at the security check and wave good-bye from behind the nylon bands and metal posts that delineate the line. There was no romantic watching the plane take off, or seeing her disappear into the plane gangway. Instead, I just stood there feeling lame, not wanting to walk away as Bella shuffled through the line with Alice and Rosalie and dozens of others.

Back in the car, finally, I pulled away and drove home on auto-pilot, thinking of the events of the last two weeks and what I knew I had to do now.

Bella's face appeared before me like watching home movies. She was beautiful always, but now there was a tension in her lovely face and her deep brown eyes were more prominent with dark circles underneath them. Fear clung to her, no matter how she ignored it or tried to hide it and it was breaking me down to see her struggling to come to grips with the very idea that someone, anyone, much less one she had once considered a friend, would go to such lengths to hurt her. And there was the dark question: What had he intended to do? Was the act of drugging her, the extent of his plan? Or had he meant to do something worse and been denied the opportunity? I couldn't even allow myself to articulate the possibilities in my own head without feeling an overwhelming rage.

Until last night, we had comforted one another in a thousand small ways, but none of them sexual. It was perfectly understandable, but it made things worse, for me at least. Sex had been such a huge part of our relationship from the very beginning; such a positive and loving part of it. But now I felt like a selfish bastard for even thinking about it. Not because I thought she would be unreceptive, but because every time I thought of pulling Bella into my arms, a part of me was demanding that I take her back from him. Prove that she was mine and would always be mine. Stake a claim. Mark my territory. As if that could somehow keep her safe.

And there was the rub: I could not keep her safe. After all my protective posturing and talking to her about being smart and careful… She did everything I asked. She went to the police and she was careful about sticking with her friends and letting me know where she would be. None of it kept her safe, least of all me. I was less than a hundred feet from her when he drugged her drink.

But last night, everything had changed again. We had crawled into bed and watched TV for a while, talking comfortably and laughing over the old rerun of _Seinfeld_ where Jerry and Elaine try to negotiate having This, That _and_ The Other. After a while, Bella snuggled down into the pillows and drifted off, so I clicked off the TV and cut out the lights. I spooned myself around her and tried to relax into sleep, but within minutes my cock was twitching to life against her warm, firm backside. I turned on my back, folding my arms behind my head and working to calm myself.

"What's wrong?" Bella's voice whispered into the darkness, while she remained perfectly still.

"Nothing, sugar, nothing's wrong. I just didn't want to wake you up."

"Since when do I object to be woken up that way?" she returned, a hint of humor evident behind the very serious question.

It took me a minute to decide on what to say. "I feel guilty. I feel like I don't just want to take you, I want to take you from _him_. Like I'm being possessive instead of just loving you."

She turned toward me and sat up. "Why didn't you talk to me about this?"

"What should I have said?"

Laying down on my chest, she hid her face. "Anything. Just talk to me. I thought you thought I was too fragile or something. It made me feel like I failed by letting him get to me."

"Why didn't _you_ talk to _me_?"

She shrugged, laughing a little, self-consciously. My mind was turning like a Rubik's cube in the hands of a little kid, pointlessly rearranging over and over without any progress being made. _Take__her__now.__Just__be__with__her__and__listen.__She__'__s__saying__she__wants__to.__She__'__s__saying__she__need__to__feel__close__to__you.__Ravish__her.__Reassure__her_.

Bella's warm hand slid over my bare chest, down my stomach and into my boxers. I groaned as she took my cock in hand. She craned her neck so her lips could reach my ear. "Just relax. You feel weird about taking me, so just let me take you."

The rush of blood from every part of my body to my groin, left me feeling light-headed and breathless. Bella was between my legs, slipping off my boxers and sliding her hot mouth down over my length. My legs began to spasm whenever she grazed her teeth over my extraordinarily sensitive head and very quickly, I couldn't take anymore.

"Unngh! Sugar, please, please!" I begged, pulling at her upper arms. She stopped me, clasping my forearms with her hands, but she also stopped torturing me with her teeth and took me a little deeper, sucking harder. "Ohgodohgodohgodohgod!" I didn't know if it was the suddenness and intensity of her onslaught, or the strain and longing of the last two weeks, or a combination of the two, but before I could even try to control it, I was coming hard and powerfully, shocked that I hadn't warned her and she didn't move away immediately when she sensed it starting. She did pull back then, capturing me with her hand again until I was spent.

She lay back down on my chest, pressing kisses into my skin periodically.

"Thank you," I whispered, kissing the top of her head.

She laughed. "'Thank you', hell! As soon as you're recovered I want payback."

The unexpected response made me laugh loudly. She amazed me. It had felt like it took forever to get her to trust me, well, trust herself and commit to me, but when she finally did, she did it with her whole heart. And ever since, she had become the rock in our relationship. She was the one that seemed more often to be able to pull us both back from the edge of discord, to get a better perspective and come back together the way we were meant to be. I tried, but more often than not, I believed, Bella got the big picture first and showed it to me.

Naturally, I paid her back. I have never regretted letting Bella tell me what to do and I doubt I ever will. I worshipped her body with mine and let my mind take a rest from the drama. This thing with James was bound to come to an end sooner than later, and in the meantime, we couldn't let him damage our relationship from the inside.

Merging into traffic on the freeway, a sudden memory flashed through my mind of Bella on top of me, writhing with pleasure, grinding hard against me, her face flushed and eyes glazed with intent. I had thought her completely lost to the moment until she spoke:

"I can't live without this. Without you," she said. And her voice was filled with wonder like she had just realized this fact. I felt the same way, but I had known it with certainty for a long time.

"Shh. Let yourself go, sugar. Don't worry."

Leaning farther forward, she grazed her lips across mine with each thrust of her hips. When she came undone a few moments later, I wrapped my arms around her and held her quaking frame to me, whispering my love against her hair and the delicate skin of her neck and cheek.

I forced myself to think of something else, since the result of that kind of thinking wasn't making driving in morning rush hour traffic pleasant. I used the voice activation on my cell to call Emmett, pushing aside any weirdness I might feel transitioning from the thought of what I did to his sister last night, to the thought that I needed to speak with him about our plans.

"Hey. Was Rosalie pissed?" Emmett answered almost immediately.

"No, she seemed fine. What did you do?" I asked.

"Nothing. Just wondered if she was mad that I didn't go with you all to the airport. She said she wasn't, but we've been kinda tiptoeing around each other since we got back together, so I wasn't sure."

"She seriously seemed like she was in a good mood to me," I assured him.

"Well good, I must've given her a good enough send-off to keep her happy."

I rolled my eyes. "You want to hear about my send-off?"

"No! God, no. Don't be gross, man."

"Okay then. Did you take care of the things we talked about?"

"Yep. No sign of him, but the ball is rolling," Emmett said, suddenly serious.

**xxxxxxxxxxx**

**Bella's POV**

Jasper knew something was up with Alice the second he saw her. He grabbed her and hugged her hard, swinging her around, but he looked a question at me and then Rosalie. I tried to reassure him by pretending not to notice, but Rosalie smirked, raising an eyebrow as if to say, "Duh? Do you not see it?"

I subtly kicked her ankle and stepped forward to hug Jasper.

"You okay, Bella?" he asked quietly while we were hugging. I didn't want to talk about James or the night he drugged me. I wanted to push all of that far, far away and try to enjoy being back on the island, even if Edward wasn't with me this time. I was sick of feeling this sense of dread hanging over me. Stepping back, I just nodded, hoping Jasper would drop that line of inquiry, which he did.

"So, are you taking us to lunch?" Rosalie asked, giving Jasper a quick hug and a peck on the cheek.

"You know it. We have reservations at a little place known as Casa de Cullen. Ever heard of it?"

"Your mom is cooking? She doesn't have to do that," I protested.

"She wants to. You of all people should understand that. She's been planning this all week and cooking all morning. She wants to impress her chef daughter-in-law."

I blushed mightily before I could even finish telling myself not to blush, but no-one else commented on Jasper's slip of the tongue or my reaction. It bothered me that everyone seemed to think Edward and I getting married was a foregone conclusion. Let me rephrase: It bothered me that everyone, except Edward, seemed to think Edward and I getting married was a foregone conclusion. On the one hand, it was nice that they were all so sure, but really none of their opinions meant anything until Edward actually proposed and I was beginning to think he never would.

I'll admit that I had hoped Emmett's proposal to Rosalie would spark an idea in Edward, but then the whole James thing happened and...nothing. Up until last night, Edward and I hadn't even been together sexually since that night. And even last night, I had to initiate it. I felt like we had moved a long way back toward our normal, but then I got on a plane and went thousands of miles away. I had a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that leaving was a mistake.

In Jasper's SUV on the way to his family's house, I leaned back against the headrest and closed my eyes. I hadn't been sleeping well and was up late again last night. It was totally worth it, but now I was tired.

"Why do you keep staring at me?" Alice demanded suddenly. It was so out-of-character for Alice to speak to Jasper that way, I was instantly alert.

Jasper just smiled calmly and said, "Why wouldn't I stare at you, darlin'? Do you have any idea how much I've missed you?"

"No, that wasn't 'I've-missed-you-you're-so-beautiful' staring. That was examining a bug under glass staring! What is it? I know I don't look my best, but I haven't been feeling well and…" Alice stopped talking and burst into tears, sending Jasper into a full-on panic.

He pulled over onto the sandy shoal at the side of the road and jumped out of the car, running around to her side. Pulling her out of the car and into his arms, he walked a little ways a way to give them some privacy.

"We have to talk to her," I said to Rose, "right away."

"I know, I just keep thinking she'll figure it out. Do you think she's going to be happy? I mean, we keep talking about it like it's so great and funny and all, but what if she's, like, devastated?"

"I think she'll be thrilled. She's always wanted children and she doesn't really care about being conventional, you know. Maybe she'll be sorry to be dealing with the symptoms at her wedding and on her honeymoon, but I really think she'll be happy."

"God, I hope so," Rose laughed. "If she's not, she's liable to take out the entire island."

"Anyway, we may be jumping to conclusions. Maybe it is just stress."

"Mmmhmm. And maybe I'd make a great kindergarten teacher."

**xxxxxxxxxxx**

**Edward's POV**

Three long damn days. That's how long Bella had been gone and it already felt like it had been weeks since I had seen her last. Luckily, I had work to distract me. And the plan to draw James out of hiding.

Emmett and I had discussed it and we figured that if James was as intent on getting to Bella as he seemed to be, sooner or later he would show up at our house. The odds of the police being on hand at the same time were slim, so we decided to take matters into our own hands on the hunch that we were right. If we were just wasting our time, well, it was ours to waste. If not, maybe we could get James behind bars where he belonged…presuming I didn't kill him first.

Before Bella left on her trip, Emmett and I had everything planned out. I packed the Audi in the driveway in plain view and drove it to the airport. After we left, Emmett opened the garage door, so that anyone, namely James, could see Bella's familiar Volvo parked inside. When I came back, I parked my car a couple of streets over and left it there. Over the next couple of days, I drove the Volvo to work, careful to keep the garage door shut until I was in the car behind the tinted windows. Whenever Emmet came over, he parked on the next street over and slipped in through the backdoor and I always shut the garage before getting out of the Volvo and going into the house. We were hoping James would think I was the one who had gone away on a trip and that Bella was home alone.

The first two nights, nothing happened. On the third night, we once again played cards, keeping well away from the windows, just killing time. I was beginning to think this was one of the dumbest ideas I'd ever had and I told Emmett so.

"Let's just stick with the plan tonight. If nothing comes of it, we'll call it quits then. Just go about our business as usual."

"I guess," I muttered, staring intently at my cards. "I'm just sick of this shit. I want that creepy fucker out of our lives."

"I know, man," Emmett said. He was a man of few words sometimes, but, next to Jasper, there was no one I trusted more

We kept playing until eleven and then we began our now familiar routine. We turned off the lights at the front of the house, only leaving the living room lights on at the back of the house. From outside there would be only a faint glow from the back of the house. Emmett took his place next to the guest room window where he could see out to the front yard and street, but not be seen. I did the same at the window in my office where I could look out over the backyard. Then there was nothing to do but wait.

And wait. And wait some more. I felt like an idiot. The cops were tracking down James, they were patrolling our street at random intervals. It was stupid to be sitting here for hours—well, twenty minutes anyway—in a darkened house for something that was probably never going to happen. James was probably long gone…I paused in berating myself when I heard a low whistle from Emmett. I moved quietly to join Emmett, staying away from the windows.

"Out front," Emmett he hissed when I was close enough. "Look. In the side yard of the house across the street. He's in the shadows, but you can see the tip of his cigarette every now and then."

I strained my eyes, but I was about to give up and chalk it up to Emmett's imagination when the faintly glowing red ember traveled up briefly and then out of sight again. Now that I knew where he was, I could just pick out his shadow. I felt my mouth stretch into a grim approximation of a smile. This was going to stop tonight.

I motioned to Emmett as we had arranged and he quickly turned off the living room and kitchen lights before moving through the house to turn on the bedroom light. The bedroom lights could be seen at the side of the house, so we hoped that James would think Bella was getting ready for bed. As I watched James's unnaturally still form in the shadows, Emmett waited about ten minutes and then turned off the bedroom lights. The entire house was shrouded in darkness now. If James had bought the set-up, he would assume Bella was going to sleep, alone in a dark house.

Forty minutes later, I was getting a cramp in my left leg from standing still in the same position so long. I shifted, glancing down to make sure I didn't brush against the curtains and tip off James to my presence. I was ready to just charge out of the house and beat his ass into the ground, but for this to really work, he had to come to us. When I glanced up a fraction of a second later, the dark form was emerging from the side yard of the house across the street. Even though he tried to stick to the shadows, I could easily make out James's face now in the faint glow of the streetlights. His expression was chillingly blank, not what I had expected. I was used to seeing him smug, smirking.

"God help you." I whispered, surprising myself.

I let out a long, low whistle to let Emmet know James was on the way. Soon after, I heard the backdoor quietly open and then close. I pictured Emmett slipping silently through the backyard as we had planned, calling 911 on his cell and circling around to the front of the house to be sure James couldn't escape.

Not even daring to breathe, I listened. Would he really break in? Would he try to come in through the side door of the garage as we expected? Or did he have another plan? The front door was locked, but not dead-bolted. Just like all the entrances to the house, we had tried to make them as easy as possible to get into without leaving them wide-open. I needed some sign of breaking and entering to make this work.

In the complete silence, the muted breaking of glass sounded like the volley of machine gun fire or my heart exploding in my chest. The piercing rush of adrenaline forced my legs into motion, following the sound to the door that led from the garage to the house. James had no doubt wrapped his hand in a shirt or a jacket and knocked out one of the panes of glass on the door that led from our side yard to the garage, enabling him to simply unlock that door and let himself into the garage. The inside door was again locked, but not dead-bolted. It took him all of 45 seconds to jimmy the door handle lock open and step into my house. Our house. If Bella was really here alone…

I let him move to the bedroom, watching from the shadows until he was well in the doorway. I followed as quietly as humanly possible, but at the last second, some wayward noise or sixth sense alerted him and he swung to face me, frozen, eyes wide and panicked.

Raising my left hand, I waved cheerfully, before smashing my right fist into his face as hard as I could. He dropped on the spot, clutching his face and cursing like a demon.

"Emmett!" I yelled, even as I was hauling a kicking and thrashing James off the bedroom floor and shoving him into the kitchen and into one of the ladderback chairs.

"Right here!" Emmett called back, coming in the front door. "Well, looky what the cat dragged in! Hellooo, James."

"Fuck you!" James spat, giving up the struggle to glower at Emmett from his chair.

"Well, that's original," Emmett said drily.

"Where is Bella? I need to talk to her," James demanded sulkily.

I was struck dumb for a moment. Was he really going to try and play this off? "You need to talk to her? In the middle of the night? An hour after you saw all the lights in the house go off, because you were watching from the shadows across the street!" I towered over him, screaming in his face at the end.

"Ed."

I ignored Emmett's calming voice. "Is that what you're trying to tell me, asshole? That you just want to talk to Bella? Is that why you drugged her drink at PJs, too? So you could talk to her, but she couldn't talk back, you fucking pervert!" Overcome by the images I was creating in my own head, I punched him again, knocking him backward off the chair.

Emmett shoved me back, holding his hand against my chest until he was sure I was under control for the moment. He turned to pull James up and place him back in the chair, while talking to me, "Keep it together. The cops are on the way."

James shot out of the chair then, shoving Emmett off balance and taking a swing at him. "You don't know what you're talking about! I just want to talk to Bella! She'll understand! It went too far, but she'll understand!"

Emmett had him by the throat in a second and sat him back down, hard. "Try that again and you'll be swallowing your teeth! Don't fuck with me, little man."

A loud knock at the front door was followed by a deep voice proclaiming, "Police! Open up."

. I went to the door to find Officer Evington and another cop standing on the porch. There were three marked cars on the street.

"We got a call about a break-in in progress," Evington said, looking hard at me.

"He's in the kitchen," I said before they could ask any questions. I led the way to where James was sitting, warily eyeing Emmett and I and the cops alternately.

"Mr. Hunter," Evington said smoothly, "we've been looking for you."

"I want a lawyer," James muttered.

"For what? We haven't even arrested you."

"You have no reason to arrest me! I just wanted to talk to Bella, goddamnit! And these assholes attacked me. I want _them_ arrested for assault."

"Interesting," Evington said, glancing at me and Emmett. Of course, James was pretty beat up and Emmett and I were unscathed, but then again _he__broke__into__my__house_. Surely Evington wasn't going to buy James's psycho crap.

Another uniformed officer came in through the open front door and Evington turned to get a report from him. "Broke in through the outside garage door. Found this on the floor next to the interior door." He held up a bag containing a long, thin flat-head screwdriver. Evington glanced at James's bare hands and smiled slightly.

"James Hunter, you are under arrest for breaking and entering…"

Evington continued to read James his rights as his partner stood him up and handcuffed him. James completely lost it then, screaming incoherently about Bella and trying to wrench himself out of the officer's grasp.

I thought I would feel so much better when James was in jail, but I didn't. I didn't know how long they could hold him or whether he would get out on bail. I didn't even know what the sentence was for breaking and entering or whether they could prove he drugged Bella's drink and what the sentence for that would be. I was due at the police station in the morning to give a statement and I had a lot of questions for the cops.

Much worse than all of those things though, was the realization that James wasn't just bitter and vengeful, he was fucking nuts, and that was so much scarier. How do you reason with a paranoid delusional? What can you threaten him with, if he is completely out of touch with reality?

Lying in our bed, staring at the ceiling and knowing sleep wasn't going to come, I was anxious for Bella to get home and wishing I could keep her away at the same time.

**A/N: So James doesn't just act like a psycho, he actually has gone off the deep end. And even though he was caught, it's not necessarily over, just like real life. Think Bella's going to be grateful or pissed about what Edward and Emmett did?**

**Oh, and I know I still didn't confirm whether or not Alice is actually pregnant. I had to save something for next time! **


	29. Chapter 29 Another Day in Paradise

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter 29**

**Another Day in Paradise**

**Bella's POV**

I slept in Edward's old room in what was now Jasper and Alice's house. It looked completely different without Edward's things in it, but the bed was the same big, comfortable bed that had started everything. Every night I snuggled into the covers, feeling lonely and a little off without him, and waited for his call at around midnight Hilton Head time. Every night, I felt grounded again as soon as I heard his voice. And it had been a week which required some restorative grounding.

The first day had been incredibly long starting with our early morning flight. Lunch at Carlisle and Esme's house was…an adventure. The food was delicious. If I was ever in the position to hire a sous chef myself, I would take her on in a minute. Kate and Garrett were there with E.J. and Molly Kate, who was beginning to walk and talking a great deal.

"Hi, E.J.!" I said, when he walked into the kitchen where I was visiting with Kate, Garrett and Esme. The last time I was here he had been very sweet, if a little bashful with me. This time, he ignored me completely.

"Edward Jasper McCaffrey! Don't be rude," Kate scolded.

E.J. turned back and said hello in a very subdued, bordering on sullen, voice. Garrett took him aside then, "Let's go for a little walk, buddy."

"I'm sorry about that," Kate apologized to me. "He's been sulking ever since I told him Edward wouldn't be here this time."

"He really misses Edward a lot?"

"Oh, yes. Edward antagonizes him awfully, but E.J. eats it up. It's kind of like a big brother relationship. He loves Jasper, too, of course, but he misses having Ed around to play with."

I knew Edward's family missed him, but I never thought about exactly how much his leaving had affected everyone, especially E.J.

"He's mad at me, isn't he? Because I took Edward away?"

"Oh, Bella. He's a kid and they get things in their heads sometimes. He'll get over it. He just got really excited when we told him we were coming to Gram and Pop's house to see you all, because he thought Edward would be here. When we explained that he wouldn't…well, he's in a bit of a mood."

"I don't blame him!" I said vehemently. "And please don't punish him on my account. He has every right to feel the way he does."

"Well, that may be true, but he doesn't have the right to be rude. That's the law, around here." Kate grinned at me and changed the subject, but I still felt awful.

At one-thirty precisely, Esme called us all to lunch. We gathered around the dining room table this time, as it was too chilly to sit on the patio. The table was set beautifully and the food looked fantastic. Esme was slightly disheveled which made me love her even more. If she had single-handedly turned out a meal like that, right on time, without turning a hair, I would've had to hate her a little, tiny bit.

It started out smoothly, with everyone catching up on the latest news and joking around. Carlisle said business was booming despite the housing slump, although they were doing far more additions and renovations than new construction. Esme entertained us with tales of her design clients, one of whom wanted Esme to create a "rumpus" room around her purple cheetah print slipper chair. Jasper was working on a mural commissioned for the Beaufort County Library. Kate had just recently been offered a position as a forensic accountant for the Fulton County DA's office and she and Garrett were trying to figure out a way to make it work so she could take it.

"It would mean a huge time commitment and between my job and hers, the kids would be in daycare too many hours. So, we're thinking I may become a stay-at-home dad for a while," Garrett said. He spoke casually, but it seemed as if he were asking for opinions more than making an announcement. He was the city desk editor for The Atlanta Constitution.

"Wow!" Rosalie offered. I was a little nervous about how she meant it, but her face lit up with genuine admiration. "That would be an incredible gift to give your wife. Just like she's done for you up until now."

I was afraid Garrett might be offended, but he just nodded thoughtfully. "It's true. And I can still keep a hand in, you know, writing freelance. It seems like a fair deal all the way around. Plus, she'll probably make more money than me in the long run."

Kate scoffed, "Neither one of us is going to get rich in our chosen professions, but we'll manage." She and Garrett shared a meaningful look and then the conversation rolled on.

E.J. remained quiet and distant, but spoke politely when he was spoken to. I just wanted to hug him and tell him I was sorry and I understood how much he missed Edward. Molly Kate on the other hand, was a card. She ruled the table like a miniature despot with a sweet temper as long as she got her way. She was royally displeased with the one small stalk of broccoli on her plate, but Jasper tried to convince her to give it a try.

"Come on, baby, just one bite? For me?" Jasper begged, giving her the puppy dog eyes.

Molly Kate leaned over and smacked Jasper with her spoon. "No, Japper! I not a baby!"

Everyone was laughing as the argument escalated and Molly Kate's expression became increasingly stormy.

"I'll make a deal with you," Jasper finally offered. "If you eat half, I'll eat half."

Molly Kate eyed him suspiciously but she said, "Kay."

Jasper cut the piece of broccoli into two uneven pieces, but before he could give her the bigger one, she snatched the smaller one and stuffed it in her mouth.

Alice was laughing so hard, tears were streaming down her face…and then she was crying so hard she couldn't catch her breath.

Jasper put his arm around her as everyone quieted, confused and alarmed.

"You so sad?" Molly Kate asked, leaning forward to peer at Alice with her little eyebrows knitted in concern.

"No, I'm okay, sweetie," Alice tried to assure Molly but the tears kept coming. "I'm really sorry," she half-laughed through her tears, turning to the adults. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I've been so stressed out."

"Oh, honey, have you been sleeping?" Esme asked.

"Yes! I sleep all the time," Alice cried. "When I'm not sleeping, I'm eating. When I'm not eating, I'm crying. I'm a complete basket case."

Jasper jerked like he'd been shocked, knocking the fork propped on the corner of his plate off onto the parquet floor.

"Jasper! She's—" Kate started, but he stopped her with a look.

"Alice, let's go get a little fresh air," he said, taking her arm.

Once they were outside, everyone started talking at once, mostly firing questions at Rosalie and me. All we could do was tell the truth: we didn't know if Alice was pregnant or not.

Alice and Jasper didn't come back to the lunch table, but the rest of us finished the superb meal together and tried to talk about other things. Anything but the obvious. Garret finally couldn't take it anymore after about half an hour had passed.

"Where the hell did they go? The suspense is killing me!" he said, slamming down his iced tea glass in disgust.

"Language," Kate reminded him under her breath.

I caught E.J.'s eye then and he grinned a little in spite of himself. Obviously he was dying to let someone at the table know that he knew his dad had cursed and I just happened to look at him at the right moment. I gave him a quick wink and looked away, not wanting to be too annoyingly wink-wink-nudge-nudge as some adults had been when I was a kid. I always hated that.

When Esme stood and started to clear dishes, she was hooted down and forced to retire to the comfortable living room. Likewise, Rosalie and I were barred from clean-up duty on the basis of being guests who had traveled all morning to get there. Carlisle, Garrett and Kate took on the clearing of the table and the doing of the dishes, which was very welcome in my opinion. Emmett often said that I took up cooking to get out of doing the dishes, which I hate. I won't say he's entirely wrong.

"So, Esme," Rosalie began as soon as we were seated. "Is it going to be a big issue if Alice is pregnant?"

I cringed at her bluntness, but listened intently for the answer. The last thing in the world Alice needed in her life was more disapproving parents.

"Do you mean will she be shunned as a woman of loose moral character?" Esme asked, her eyes twinkling devilishly.

"Actually her own parents will probably disown her claiming that very justification," Rosalie shot back. "They've been looking for a reason to do it for years."

"Really? Jasper mentioned they were strict, but…"

"I'm afraid so," I cut in. "Her parents are religious…zealots, let's say."

"Nuts, let's say," Rosalie interjected. "They aren't religious, they're just mean-spirited, hateful—"

"Maybe," I interjected. "Either way, they've always been extraordinarily hard on her and judgmental. We just kind of wanted to know what she might expect, you know, reaction-wise."

"Do I strike you as that sort of person?" she asked, looking from me to Rosalie seriously.

"No! I'm sorry, we didn't mean to imply anything like that!"

"We're just looking out for Alice. And things are a little different here," Rosalie added with a shrug, meaning the South in general, I suppose.

"Only on the surface, dear. People are people wherever you go. We love Jasper and Alice. I might wish for their sake that they had a little time to enjoy being husband and wife before starting a family, but other than that, there is no judgment. There will have to be some celebrating, though. Another grandbaby!"

"That will be lovely someday," Alice said from the arched entryway. "But for now, I am _not_ pregnant."

By the time we left, she had me convinced. Alice laughed at the very idea that she could be pregnant, figuratively patting Jasper's head with amused disregard for his leap of logic. She was stressed because of the separation from Jasper, the upcoming wedding, the move that meant leaving her friends and family behind. That stress was the root of her sleeping problems; her sleep deprivation was causing the emotional instability and the emotional eating. By the time she was done, she had everyone laughing at their silly assumption.

Esme sent us home to Jasper's with leftovers, after promising to meet us at the bridal shop for a dress fitting in the morning along with Kate. Jasper, Garrett and Carlisle made plans to take the kids shell hunting early and then watch the game in the afternoon. Don't ask me which game. There is always a game.

Back at Jasper's, Rosalie and I stayed up for a while watching TV and nibbling leftovers. Alice and Jasper had disappeared into Jasper's room almost as soon as we arrived, never to be heard from again.

"This sucks," Rosalie huffed suddenly out-of-the-blue. "You know what they're doing in there."

"So?" I laughed at her disgruntled expression.

"So, it's not fair, that's what." She stuck her tongue out at me, fighting back a smile.

"Now you know how I felt when you and Em were going at it in one room, Jasper and Alice in the other, while I was all by myself."

"As I recall, that lasted all of about three hours. And then you were releasing your inner slut with Magic Fingers."

I stood up, scooping up the detritus of our snacking and feigning a dignified retreat. "On that note, I'm going to my room to call Magic Fingers and tell him goodnight."

Rosalie snorted, hauling herself up off the couch, too. "I'm going to go call Emmett and tell him goodnight til his hand goes numb!"

"Very nice!" I called after her retreating form. "I'm using that in your wedding toast!"

The next day was a blur of wedding-related insanity. The dress fitting alone would have been enough for me. I was ready to climb back in bed for the rest of the day to recover from that alone. But then there was a menu tasting with the caterer followed by a walking tour of the reception site. Alice had found all the local vendors through Esme and Kate and their connections, with some input from Jasper, and made most of the arrangements over the phone and online. Now that she was in town, she couldn't wait to personally visit and terrorize each and every one of them and she wanted to do it all before Rose and I left for Seattle in five days.

The men and kids met us for an early dinner—or was it supper?—at the Sunset Grille. I was tempted to try something different, but my mouth was already watering for their shrimp and grits so I stuck with that, but tried bites of everyone else's dishes. The food did not disappoint and I found myself thinking of all the ways I could blend the Northwest style and flavors I typically worked with, along with the Southern flavors singing on my palette.

My imagination was building a seaside restaurant, decorating it, filling it with people and serving them my own take on the marriage of north and south on a plate when Rosalie poked me hard in the ribs.

"Ow! What?" I demanded.

"Shh," she warned me tersely. So many conversations were going on around the table that no one took any notice of us. Once Rosalie was sure of this she started talking quietly, "Alice is having sweet tea with dinner."

"So?" I shrugged.

"When have you ever known Alice not to have wine with dinner when we go out?"

I started to answer, but Rose kept going. "And she didn't have any champagne at the dress shop."

"Neither did the rest of us. It was too early for champagne."

Rose rolled her eyes, but continued. "And she told the caterer not to bother serving the suggested wines with the tasting. Why would she do that?"

"What are you saying?" I asked, but the point was already dawning on me.

"She's not drinking. At all."

"Because she _is_ pregnant," I breathed.

"Or at least suspects she might be, despite her impressive performance yesterday. I say we move forward with Operation Clear Blue Easy."

I took a big gulp of my water and nodded solemnly.

"I'm supposed to fall for this, right?" Alice demanded that evening. Operation Clear Blue Easy wasn't going so well.

After we got back to Jasper's that night—I was still getting used to calling it Jasper and Alice's—anyway, after we got back, I asked Rosalie and Alice to come to my room, pretending to be distressed. I said everything Rose and I had rehearsed: How I had skipped a couple of my Pills by accident and now I was really afraid that I might be pregnant.

"Especially after yesterday," I told Alice, trying to dredge up some effective tears to well in my eyes. "All the time everyone was thinking you were pregnant, I was thinking how I probably am for real."

Alice looked at me calmly, but her eyes were assessing my every move. Rosalie was far more supportive and encouraging than she would have been for real. I think that's what tipped Alice off. When I set forth my plan that we all take a pregnancy test—I just happened to have three in my luggage—so that I wouldn't feel so alone, Alice's inquisitive face morphed into a sardonic smirk.

"I'm supposed to fall for this, right?" she scoffed. "Then, surprise, surprise, it's actually me who gets the positive results. Wouldn't that be a hoot? The only problem with your little plan is that _I__am__not__pregnant_!"

"Then why wouldn't you drink anything today?" Rosalie demanded, dropping all pretense.

"Because I didn't feel like it. I'm not an alcoholic or anything. I don't drink much anyway."

"Plus, you might be pregnant," Rosalie goaded.

Alice jumped off my bed and headed for the door in a huff. "Good night, girls. Have fun proving that you're not pregnant, either!"

"Well, that went well," Rosalie said after Alice all but slammed the door to her and Jasper's room.

"We may have to go with Edward's plan and hold her down and force her to pee on the stick," I said.

"That was _not_ my plan," Edward insisted that night on the phone. "That was a joke. Do not try that and then tell her it was my idea."

I laughed, but made no promises. "I think we're just going to have to wait for her to come around. She's obviously not completely sure she isn't pregnant and eventually she'll have to know, right?"

"I imagine so. Hopefully sometime before she goes into labor."

"So anyway, tell me about your day," I said, spooning a pillow and wishing it was him.

"It was long. We're on the fourth revision of the plans for the new UW lecture hall. I swear Tom is working round the clock at this point and expects everyone else to do the same. I just got home about twenty minutes ago and he acted surprised when he saw me leaving."

"I feel bad for his wife. That can't be much of a life for her. She sure seemed miserable and angry at that dinner."

"Yeah, well, as I recall we ended up pretty miserable and angry that night, too, and we're pretty happy overall."

"That's different. We were fighting over wanting each other to be safe and wanting to be together. She seemed like she was fighting all alone and he had just checked out."

There was an uncomfortable quiet moment. "I guess. Look, no one knows what goes on in someone else's marriage and I have a hard enough time figuring Tom out at work. I don't really want to go into his home life."

"I'm sorry. I don't know how we even got off on the subject. I just never want us to be like that."

"Never, sugar. Never in a million years. Now tell me about your day."

Jasper took us to his studio the next morning and then to the Beaufort County Library to see the mural he was working on. The boy was talented, of that I had no doubt. Okay, I had a little bit of doubt after I saw his ass print in the sex painting he and Alice did, but _now_ I had no doubt. I wanted to ask him to do something special just for Edward and I to hang in our living room, but I felt suddenly shy. Did he have time with the mural and upcoming shows? Should I offer to pay him or would that be insulting? Could I afford him if I did pay? Edward had told me about the painting that sold for $10,000 which boggled my mind. Not that it wasn't worth it, but that anyone could or would spend that much money on a painting. Besides, Edward had a lot of pieces from Jasper, I just kind of wanted something that would be meaningful to both of us as a couple. I chickened out, though, and put off asking him for later.

Rosalie and I decided to wander off on our own for the afternoon after lunch and leave the lovebirds a little alone time. We visited a bunch of shops and boutiques and found a gorgeous hand-painted clock to give them as a house-warming gift.

"Can't this count as a wedding present, too?" Rosalie asked, while we waited for it to be wrapped.

"No, we have to get them something from the registry for the wedding and you better stop being stingy. You're turn is coming, remember?"

That lit a maniacal gleam in Rose's eye and I could almost see her trigger finger twitching in anticipation of getting a hold on the electronic registry scanner gun at Neiman Marcus.

I went straight to my room to hide the clock when we got home. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw Alice sitting on my bed with the test kits in her lap.

"Alice?" I didn't have to worry about her grabbing the present and ripping it open on the spot. She didn't even notice what I had in my hands. I put my things down on a chair and came back to sit next to her. After a moment of silence I put my head on her shoulder. Some kind of turning point was happening here and I didn't want to ruin it by saying the wrong thing.

"I'll take one of these things if you really want me to," she finally said. "For moral support."

"Oh, okay. Thanks," I stumbled over the words making Alice huff out an irritated laugh.

"Just go get Rosalie."

Alice calmly and methodically opened and arranged a test kit for each of us. It was surprisingly anticlimactic. We each took a turn in the bathroom, placed the stick back in its holder and prepared to wait the requisite three minutes. I had taken no chances and gone with the expensive but easy to read digital tests, so when the built-in timer went off, words popped up in the little screens. Not Pregnant, Not Pregnant…Pregnant.

"Holy shit," Alice breathed. "_I__'__m_ going to be a mom."

"You're going to be a great mom," I corrected, pulling her into a hug.

"A totally hot mom," Rosalie added, wrapping her arms around both of us.

We stood together, hugging and swaying for a couple of minutes until Rosalie said, "You know what sucks? This is just the kind of occasion that calls for going out and getting hammered, but we can't."

"Shut up, Rose," Alice laughed through oncoming tears.

The sound of the front door opening and closing, caused Alice to bolt to her feet. "That's Jasper. I sent him to the store."

"Oh! Don't tell him yet!" Rosalie said excitedly. "You could come up with some great way to surprise him and—"

"Jasper!" Alice yelled, running down the hall waving the pregnancy test. Jasper came running around the corner as we came up behind Alice.

"We are, aren't we?" he demanded, scooping her up. "We're going to have a baby?"

Alice just nodded against his chest as the tears made good on their threat.

Jasper let out an ear-splitting yell and hugged her tighter against him. "I can't believe it. I love you so much, Alice. This is unbelievable!"

The evening was taken up with celebrating and calling Carlisle and Esme to come over and then celebrating some more. We tried to call Edward, but got his voicemail. Kate and Garrett and the kids had already gone home to Atlanta, but Jasper called them to share the news and there was a lot of hollering and "I told you so's".

With an unpleasant jolt, I realized that Alice and Jasper's kids and Kate and Garrett's kids were going to grow up so near each other, they would really know each other, be friends as well as cousins. If Edward and I had kids they would grow up on the other side of the country away from all their cousins and aunts and uncles and both sets of grandparents, once Charlie and Renee moved to Florida. Our kids would have Emmett and Rosalie, of course, and any kids they might have, which was wonderful. But somehow it didn't feel like enough.

"I'm going to miss out on watching Alice get bigger and bigger," I said sadly.

"And all the hormone-fueled demands she's going to make on Jasper," Rosalie lamented.

"Oh! Nesting! All the shopping, rearranging, painting, primping," I said. "We're going to miss Alice nesting!"

"That's going to be a wonder," Rose agreed. "I hope the local stores are stocked and Jasper's selling lots of paintings."

"I can't believe we're going to be grandparents again," Carlisle said, gazing into Esme's face. "You don't look like any grandma I ever saw."

"You say that every time," she laughed affectionately. "I am a grandmother and a damn good one."

Edward was late for our nightly phone call and I was starting to worry. I curled up in bed and called the house and he answered sounding harried.

"What's wrong?" I asked immediately.

"Bella, hey sweetheart. Nothing's wrong. Emmett and I were playing cards and he's just getting ready to leave. Can I call you back in like half an hour?"

"Who else is there?" I could hear several other voices in the background.

"Just a few other guys. I'll call you back okay? Love you."

"Okay, love you, too," I said, thinking he was being weird. I figured he was probably embarrassed to be too lovey in front of the guys. Especially if they were some of Emmett's friends.

On sudden inspiration, I slid out of bed and pulled a heavy sweater out of the closet to wrap around me, stuck my cell phone in my jeans pocket and pulled on my tennis shoes. I wanted to go down to the beach, to be on the sand, listening to the surf when he called. I left a note and borrowed Jasper's bike for the quick ride down to the cove.

I was just settling in comfortably, using one of the dunes to shelter me from the chilly March wind, when my phone chimed.

"Edward?"

"Bella, sugar," he drawled intentionally. "I miss you so much."

**Edward POV**

"I miss you, too," she said with a sigh.

"Where are you? I can hear the ocean."

"I'm sitting on the sand at our cove, wishing you were here."

"By yourself?" I demanded, feeling a twinge of panic.

She sounded annoyed when she spoke again. "Yes, by myself. Please stop. Let me enjoy this."

"I'm sorry, I'm not trying to ruin the moment, but I worry about you. You promised to take care of yourself." Guilt crawled down my neck and slithered along my spine as I thought of what I had been doing that evening. I had not avoided danger, I had invited it into my home. And I had lied to Bella by omission, if not by fact.

"And I am! But I am not going to lock myself in a room and bar the windows and doors! That's not a life. I just wanted to come here because the memory of you and I here…it still takes my breath when I think about it. The things you said to me after…"

"Oh, Bella. I meant every word and more I was afraid to tell you then. I love you, you know." My voice strained against the urge to confess everything and have it over with, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I didn't want to ruin her vacation with worry, fear and anger. If I was being honest, I didn't want her angry with me period.

I felt her deep, shuddering breath through the phone. When she spoke, it was pleading and quiet, "Edward, what am I doing here without you? I miss you so much it hurts. Everything reminds me of you or makes me want you here."

"It's okay. It's only for a week," I said, trying to soothe her. I was surprised by the forlorn emotion in her voice. This vacation was supposed to reduce her stress, not add to it.

"That's not the point," she insisted. "Just being here, where I feel so happy and comfortable, and knowing you're not here because of me… And E.J. is so mad at me and your family misses you and I'm not pregnant…"

"What? Whoa, slow down, and back up. Did you think you were pregnant?"

"No, but Rose and I took a test along with Alice. For moral support." She sniffled and then laughed. "You're going to be an uncle, by the way."

"Alice _is_ pregnant?"

"Yes, she is. About sixteen weeks along, they figure. Jasper is so happy he's flying. Oh! Edward, you have to let him tell you! I'm such a jerk. I promised to let him tell you." She was crying now and it made my guts clench because I couldn't get to her to comfort her.

"Bella, Bella," I murmured, trying to calm her. "Please don't cry, you're killing me here."

"I'm sorry," she hiccupped, then took a deep cleansing breath.

"Don't be sorry. It sounds like you had a really emotional day. Just relax and tell me, okay?"

"Give me a second." She must have held the phone away from her because I could no longer hear her breathing. All I could hear was the rolling cadence of wave after wave returning to the shore and bubbling away again. The sound pulled at the core of me in a way that caught me off guard. I hadn't had a lot of time to think about how much I missed the place I was born and raised. It was enough to finally be with Bella and get used to living together, to adjust to my new job with Tom, and then to deal with the situation with James. On a surface level, I knew I missed Hilton Head and seeing my family on a regular basis, but I hadn't let myself really feel it until this moment. When Bella's voice came down the line again, the feeling of displacement only increased.

"Alice finally caved and took the test. She's so mad that she was the last one to know!" Bella was laughing now. "She prides herself on knowing everything before anyone else. And this is the biggest thing ever."

"Is she happy? Freaked out? Scared?" I asked.

"Yes, on all counts. Mostly happy, I think. She's—well, they—are still trying to take it in. Apparently they fell into that 1% of birth control ineffectiveness. But I must say, I think Jasper's concern is only that Alice is okay with it. For himself he seems elated."

"I can see that. Jasper has always loved kids. Now, tell me why you were upset that you're not pregnant. Do you want to have a baby?"

"Not right now, but someday…"

"Honestly sugar, I'm so glad you're not—" I started.

"Thanks so much. Very flattering," she tried to laugh it off, but I could hear the hurt in her voice.

"Don't be ridiculous. I'd just like the chance to marry you before baby makes three."

"What?" The shock in her voice was less than flattering to me. I could have kicked myself for going there after I'd worked so hard just to enjoy our relationship as it was and not push.

"What?"

"You want to marry me?"

"No! I mean, it doesn't have to be right away. I know I've pushed you all along and I've been trying not to do that."

"Oh Edward, sometimes we're both so stupid it's frightening. I thought you didn't want to get married. That maybe you never would."

"You're crazy. I would've married you the day I met your family. I was so jealous of Jasper that day for getting to propose to Alice."

"Nothing was stopping you from proposing to me," she said, completely serious.

"Oh please! You would've run screaming for the hills and you know it."

She laughed and the tightened place in my chest expanded to let me breathe normally again.

"You really want to marry me?"

"Hell yes! How could you have any doubt about that?"

"I guess because you did push so hard for everything else. I thought you were just content to live together indefinitely."

"You're right."

"What?"

"That is frighteningly stupid. Sugar, I think we have a lot to talk about when you get home."

**Reviews make the world go 'round!**


	30. Chapter 30 All Work and No Play

**A/N: I can't begin to explain where I've been and why I've been away so long. I'm just going to say Happy Holidays and prepare for a lot of chapters at once. This story is complete including an epilogue and I'm going to post them all as quick as possible. **

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter 30**

**All Work and No Play**

**Edward's POV **

Work was long and tedious on Friday. My mind was not on wall thickness and room dimensions, it was on Hilton Head with Bella. For the last two nights our phone calls had been fantastic. Bella seemed happy and relaxed; she even seemed to be enjoying Alice's wedding frenzy activities. We talked a little more about getting married, but mostly we just talked about our families and friends, which by the way seemed to be becoming almost indistinguishable. We talked about what happened that day and what we had planned for the next. We talked a little more about our first time on the beach, or the first night we met in my bed, or my love of elevators, or the night after the AIA dinner. It was always during these topics that we got interrupted by someone walking into the room where Bella was or by me getting another phone call. Since Tom worked all hours, he had no trouble calling me at all hours, or directing others to do so. I was pretty damn frustrated and ready for Sunday to roll around and Bella to come home.

By the time I got home Friday night, all I wanted to do was take a shower, talk to Bella and go to bed. The shower eased the tension in my shoulders and the nagging ache in my head. Once I was comfortably dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, I helped myself to a slice of leftover pizza and a beer before heading to the living room. I switched on the game, pulled my laptop into my lap and switched it on to check my personal email.

There were four new messages, but the one that caught my eye was from someone I'd never heard of called kingofthebeach and included an attached picture file. I hesitated, thinking I should just delete it because it was probably some kind of virus, but curiosity won out.

The message read: **Wish****you****were****here****…****dontcha?** Frowning, I opened the attachment and a photo popped up of Bella and Rosalie on either side of Alice, pointing at her still flat stomach. I could see it because all three of them were in bikinis standing on Coligny Beach looking like they were trying not to freeze to death. It was March for god's sake! Who goes to the beach in a bikini in March? And who the hell took that picture and sent it to me? Jasper? Not unless he changed his email address to that douche-y kingofthebeach thing.

Realizing there were more photos I scrolled forward. They were all of the three girls, playing on the beach; laughing and teasing each other, mugging for the camera. Pretty quickly they began pulling jeans and sweatshirts on in the photos, but my blood began to boil when I saw one of Bella bent over, pulling her jeans up. More accurately, it was of Bella's ass as she pulled her jeans up. I scrolled down the page looking for some clue as to who sent this email and realized that there were captions at the bottom of the photos. The one of Bella's admittedly fine derriere said: **You****are****one****lucky****son****of****a****bitch.****Don****'****t****worry,****I****'****m****taking****good****care****of****her!**

Nearly blind with rage and fear now, I tried to reason out how James could possibly have gotten out of jail that fast, figured out where Bella was and traveled there. And why would she and the girls just stand there and let him take pictures of them half-dressed? A little further down the page I was treated to a close-up of Jake Black, obviously holding the camera back to take it himself.

Jake was the lucky one—lucky that I was some 2000 miles away and couldn't jump through the screen to beat his sorry ass. I didn't like him hanging out with Bella and taking pictures of her in her bikini, but I wanted to kill him for the scare he had given me.

It was way early for my nightly call to Bella, but I did it anyway.

"Edward?" she answered on the second ring. I could hear the sounds of a party in the background and I just knew Jake was still there.

"You want to explain to me the email I just got from Jake full of half-naked pictures of you?" I demanded.

Silence from Bella allowed me to hear more of the background noise. My dad's voice boomed out over the general clamor. It wasn't a party, or if it was, it was a family party. The racket became fainter. I heard a door close and then there was quiet until Bella's angry voice came through.

"_Excuse_ me?"

"I just opened an email from Jake," I tried to defend my outburst, but my tone was a lot less harsh. "He took a bunch of pictures of you in your bikini. What were you even doing on the beach? Isn't it cold there?"

"It was unusually mild for the time of year and Alice wanted a picture of the three of us on the beach now. Then we're going to do it again every time we get together while she's pregnant. So Jake took pictures of _all__three__of__us_. I didn't know he sent them to you."

"He was messing with me. He took one of your ass while you were putting your jeans on."

"Well, that _is_ obnoxious. I can see why you would call and yell at _me_." Sarcasm can be a weapon wielded in the right hands and Bella has the right hands. It sliced right through me, but I was still too worked up to cave in and apologize.

"Why did you ask Jake anyway? Where in hell is Jasper?"

"Jasper is here now, along with your whole family. Earlier today, he was at work on the library mural and therefore unavailable. And I didn't actually ask Jake to take the pictures, Alice did. But I was fine with it. He's a nice guy that I went on an okay, sort-of date with once. That's it."

"Well…"

"Well, what?"

"Well, I'm…sorry. He just sent me those damn pictures and I didn't know who they were from at first. They looked pretty stalker-ish, so I thought—"

"You thought it was James?"

"Just for a minute. It was just—god. I'm sorry I yelled at you."

I expected her to let me off the hook or tease me about my caveman tendencies, but another awkward silence filled my ear.

"I got a call today."

"Oh yeah? From who?" I jumped on the passing subject to escape the current one.

"Officer Evington."

Shit. That wasn't good. I racked my brain for something to say and came up empty.

"He said James was in jail for breaking into our house Wednesday night. He seemed to think you knew all about it, but I said that couldn't be, because you would have told me. Right?"

"Bella—"

"Right?"

"No, okay? Wrong. I didn't tell you because there was no point in stressing you out and ruining your vacation. I was going to tell you when you got home. And I think I did the right thing."

"Did you lure him into the house?" she asked quietly. "That's what he's claiming, according to Evington."

"No! The psycho was lurking out in the neighbor's bushes across the street, waiting for all the lights to go out and then he broke into our garage and then into the house."

"Where you and Emmett were waiting for him, watching the whole thing."

"Bella…"

"That's not an answer. How would you know what he was doing before he broke in unless you were watching him? Are you two that stupid and arrogant? What if he had a gun, Edward? What if he had a knife?"

"He didn't. He's a sick, twisted little psycho—"

"Exactly!" she yelled, making my ear drum throb. "He is! I know that! And he could have done anything. He could have hurt or killed you or Emmett. You made me promise to take care of myself for your sake and then you went and did this. And you promised me you wouldn't confront him."

"No, I didn't. I promised I wouldn't do anything stupid and I—"

"Semantics, Edward? Really? You knew what I meant and you knew what I would think of this."

"We were careful. Emmett and I planned it out and had a backup plan if there was any trouble. Honestly, I didn't think he was going to show after the first couple of nights."

I heard her gasp and when she spoke again her voice was shaking with fury. "You _planned_this! You guys _wanted_ him to break in so you could catch him? I thought you just happened to see him and didn't call the cops right away… Oh my god! You really—" She stopped short, unable to find the words she wanted to say, I guess.

"No, Bella! I'm sorry. God, this so stupid!"

"Stupid? You think _I__'__m_ being stupid? Or you are? Because I'm trying to imagine what you would be saying right now if the shoe were on the other foot and I can't. What would you say if you were me, Edward? What would you do?"

"I don't know," I had to admit.

"Neither do I. I'll…just…I need a little time to think. I'll call you later."

"Later tonight?"

"I don't know," she said with a hard edge to her voice. "Oh, by the way, James is out on bail. Try not to get yourself or my brother killed, okay?"

It took me a moment, calling her name into the dead air, to accept that she had hung up on me. The impulse to smash my phone against the wall was only quelled by the thought that Bella wouldn't be able to call me if I did. I knew it wasn't going to go well when I told Bella about our little sting operation for James, but I had imagined that we would be face-to-face and be able to work things out. I guess I expected to be able to overcome her anger since she would be able to see me alive and well and know that everything turned out fine.

This way, even though she knew I was okay, her imagination would run away with her. I knew how her mind worked. She would fret and stew over what could have happened, and get angrier and angrier. There was no point in me jumping on a plane to go down there. It was Friday night and she would be headed home on Sunday morning.

My headache was back with a vengeance and the pizza sat in my stomach like a lead weight. Picking up the phone, I texted Bella: **If****you****'****re****angry****with****me,****yell****at****me,****but****please****don****'****t****shut****me****out.****This****is****just****another****kind****of****running****away****—****we****promised****to****stop****doing****that.****Stay****and****fight,****sugar.****I****love****you**.

If I imagined that would soften her heart, I was sadly mistaken.

**Apparently,****we****both****make****promises****we****can****'****t****keep.****Leave****me****alone****until****I****call****you**.

Her words said "Leave me alone" but the fact that she answered me said, "Text me back" so I did: **No.****I****don****'****t****want****you****blowing****this****up****in****your****mind.****Everything****is****fine.****I****'****m****fine**.

After several long minutes and no answer, I tried again: **Please****Bella****—****I****'****m****going****crazy****here.****Don****'****t****hate****me.****I****have****to****protect****you.**

I took my beer bottle and plate in the kitchen, tossing the bottle in the trash and putting the plate in the dishwasher. I washed my hands and dried them thoroughly, before leaving the room and turning out the light. Still there was no response from Bella. I couldn't help it, I tried again: **Please?**

A minute later the phone rang and I answered it without hesitation. "Bella?"

"Listen, son," Jasper started regretfully, "I think you better give it a rest. She's just getting madder and madder."

"Shit."

"I know."

"I fucked up, didn't I?"

"As far as Bella is concerned, yes. For me? I don't know. I think I would've done the same thing."

I felt marginally better at that. "Emmett thought it was the right thing, too."

Jasper laughed and things felt a little less tragic. "I'm not sure that's your best argument with Bella."

"What is my best argument with her?"

"That you love her and did the best you could."

"And how do I tell her that if she won't speak to me?"

"She will, just give her a little time. In the meantime, Alice and I have an ultrasound appointment next Thursday, so be prepared for your first pictures of your niece or nephew, godfather."

"I bet it's twins," I said.

"Shut the fuck up," Jasper laughed. "But that would be cool, wouldn't it?"

"I can't believe how relaxed you are about all of this, man. You're a rock."

"What do I have to worry about? I've known Alice was it for me from Day One. We're reasonably well-off financially—more than a lot of first time parents are. We're lucky, we're blessed, why shouldn't we have a baby?"

"It's not that. I guess I worry about what kind of father I would be. I'm not sure I can live up to my parents."

"Well, in that department, I'm luckier than you. Every generation strives to do better than the one before, right? Alice and I don't have far to go to do better than my parents or hers."

"Bullshit, son. You're going to be an awesome parent, not just slightly better than yours. I think you could live up to Carlisle and Esme."

"So will you. When the time comes, you'll be great. I just hope for their sake you don't have a house full of girls. Think of the investment in window bars and background checks…"

"Asshole."

"You're going to have to clean up your language if you're going to be my kid's godfather."

"Too late, you already asked me," I pointed out. "I'm going to teach that kid a new cuss word to say at every Thanksgiving dinner."

There was still no word from Bella the next morning before I left for work at six-thirty. Yes, I work a lot of Saturdays. Maybe not as many as Tom would like, but enough to keep him relatively happy. The temporary mood relief from talking to Jasper about the new little Whitlock on the way, was long gone as I waged an internal war over whether or not to try calling Bella again.

Instead, I took a chance that Evington would be at work early on a Saturday morning and called him as soon as I got to the office. He wasn't immediately available, but the desk officer took my number and Evington called me back about 40 minutes later.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Cullen?" he asked, getting right to the point.

"I understand James Hunter is out on bail? Bella told me you called her on vacation," I added, unable to keep the accusation out of my voice.

"It's department policy to inform victims holding a restraining order when the perpetrator is released from jail." He sounded like he was reciting from a rule book. "I called her cell phone number of record, so whether she was on vacation or not had nothing to do with it."

At that point I realized I really had nothing else to say. I was pissed that he had gotten me into trouble with Bella, but I knew it was childish and groundless anger. I was searching for something else to say when he started talking again.

"I think it's probably good that Ms. Swan is out of town for the moment. Mr. Hunter was convinced the night we brought him in that she wanted to talk to him and let him explain everything he had done, but you were standing in her way. He was also on a paranoid coke high. Once he dried out, his tune changed entirely, but personally I think that was just to avoid getting held on a 72 hour psych observation."

"Is he being charged with the break-in and for drugging Bella's drink? Why is he out on bail already?"

"We have no proof on the drugging and he denies it. In fact—he says you probably did it as part of some sort of sex game."

I should have killed the sick son of a bitch while I had the chance. I should've had a gun and just dropped him right inside the door. I probably would've gotten off on self-defense and we would be rid of him and these twisted games. In that moment I felt that I could kill him with my bare hands given the opportunity.

I spluttered in my blinding rage, squeezing the handset so hard in my hand, I half-expected it to break.

"Mr. Cullen? Calm down. I'm only telling you the kind of garbage this guy is saying, not that we believe it. The biggest problem I see is that, as soon as he says these things off the top of his head, he seems to start believing them. He's got a complete fantasy world going on in his mind."

"This is never going to stop," I said, feeling sick. "How did this happen? He was just a mildly annoying guy my girlfriend worked with and now…"

Evington sighed deeply. "I wish I knew what to tell you, Edward. It happens. And the drugs he's apparently taking aren't helping. I'd like to tell you we're monitoring his every move, but we just don't have the manpower for that. We are watching your house on regular patrol and checking out all his known associates and hang-outs for the court case.

"What I need you to do is call me, or call 911 the second you catch sight of him. The restraining order against him requires him to stay away from Ms. Swan and your residence. Just stepping foot on the sidewalk in front of your home could land him back in jail until his trial date."

"And then what? He serves thirty days and comes right back at us?" I demanded.

There was a long, calculating silence. "Don't do anything stupid, Mr. Cullen. You could hurt Ms. Swan much worse if you were injured or in jail from taking things into your own hands. We are doing everything we can to put an end to this."

"But that's not much, right? I mean, no offense whatsoever, I know you're doing the best you can, but there really isn't anything you can do unless he does something terrible and you catch him in the act, right?"

There was another loaded silence. "It's not easy, but if you'll work with us and let us do our job, nothing terrible has to happen."

Feeling even more hopeless and helpless than I did before I called, I thanked him politely and hung up. I had just sat back hard in my chair, thinking desperately when my cell phone rang and I fished it out of my pocket. Bella.

"Hello?"

"Edward, how are you doing?" she said. She sounded tired and wary.

"Not good," I admitted. "It was a long night."

"Yes, it was." She stopped and all I could hear was her light breathing. Nothing I could think to say was going to bridge this distance.

"Fuck this!" I growled suddenly. "I'm getting on a plane. I'll be there by tonight and you can hit me or scream at me or whatever you want to do!"

"No you're not. My flight leaves at 7:30 tomorrow morning . It makes absolutely no sense for you to spend a fortune to get here late tonight, just to turn around a go back."

"But you would like to hit me or scream at me?"

"A little bit, yes. I still can't believe you took such an unbelievably stupid risk. And you lied to me."

"What did I lie about? I'm the one who told you about the plan, remember?"

"You lied by not telling me every time we talked. You know it and I know it. I don't care about your bullshit semantics!"

It's wrong that Bella cussing at me gave me a momentary twinge of lust, isn't it? Even though she was still pissed at me, and we were still too far apart, we were really talking and I felt marginally better.

Leaning back in my chair, I let my shoulders relax. "Can you understand at all why I did it?"

"Yes, Edward, I get it. You're the man. It's your responsibility to slay the dragons and defend the castle. My job is to look pretty and not ask any questions."

"That's not even close to fair. It's not like James isn't a real threat. They weren't having any luck finding him after he drugged you, so _I_ found him. And I caught him red-handed breaking into our house—"

"That's—"

"And he was breaking into our house because he thought you were there alone! I'm sorry you're mad. I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away, but I am _not_ sorry I did it!"

For a moment I thought she had hung up on me again, but then I heard her breathing. Deep, controlled breathing, like she was trying not to unleash the furies of Hell on my ass.

"Well, I guess you told me," she said evenly. "And you know what you told me? That you're going to do whatever you want, whenever you want, and you don't really care how I feel about it."

"I did not say anything like that, but when it comes to keeping you safe, you're damn right!"

"Okay, fine. You do what you think is right, I'll do what I think is right, and no more apologies from either of us. Deal?"

I didn't like the sound of that one little bit. What might she do to prove her point to me? I stalled for time: "Sugar, you have to try to understand where I'm coming from here. I just wanted the asshole locked up before you got back to town. I want him out of our lives and somewhere he can't hurt you."

"I want that, too. For both of our sake, but I thought we were working together, with the police to make that happen. Now I find out that you're plotting and planning behind my back, with no police support and you don't care how I feel about that. It scares me, Edward. And it pisses me the hell off. I don't know what else to say. If we're not in this together, then what's the point?"

"Don't say that!"

Bella gave a muted yell of frustration, but when she spoke she was calmer. "I'm sorry. It wasn't an ultimatum. I love you, but I'm so angry I could kick your ass into the middle of next week right now."

"Aw, Bella. I don't know how to fix this over the phone." I rested my forehead on my free hand.

When she spoke again, she was calmer still and her tone was sardonic. "I know how you try to fix things in person and that would not be a safe move for you at this point in time. Be grateful for the 2000 mile buffer zone between me and your testicles."

I laughed while simultaneously shifting in my chair. "You wouldn't. Would you?"

Bella huffed out a breath and laughed a little. "I think I might have last night. I'm a little calmer today. But we still have a lot to talk about when I get home tomorrow."

"I know. We pick you and Rosalie up at 1:40, right?"

"Right."

"I love you, Bella."

"I love you, too. That doesn't change."

When I was ready to leave for the day at four o'clock, Tom was still in his office. I stuck my head in to tell him good-bye and he sucked me into a long, drawn-out conversation about a project I wasn't even working on. Sometimes I wondered if he worked to avoid his wife and kids. The thought made me sad for them, but even more so for him. What kind of life was working all day, every day? _What__is__the__point_? I wondered, echoing Bella's words earlier.

And truthfully, Tom was beginning to wear on my nerves. The man worked nearly every hour of the day and night, and looked sideways at anyone who didn't. I understood when I took the job that it was going to be demanding, but after getting a glimpse into the state of his marriage and feeling what it was like to work at 80% of his pace, I was beginning to think Francke & Associates was not my future. What my future was in regards to my career, I wasn't sure.

I called Emmett on the way home because I didn't want to just sit around and brood about what more Bella had to say to me.

"Let's go out—that steak house over by you. Damn, I'll be glad when Rosie gets home," Emmett sighed.

"I'm happy Bella's coming home, too, but I gotta warn you: She found out about James and she's mightily pissed off at me. And I'm sure she's told Rosalie by now."

"Huh. I know, but Rosie is totally turned on and promising me all kinds of dirty rewards when she gets back. Go figure."

"She wasn't mad at all?" I asked, disbelieving.

"Not really. She said it was stupid, but she expects that from me. But she also said it was incredibly brave and hot. Especially the part where I single-handedly tackled that douche to the ground just as he was about to beat you unconscious."

"That never happened!"

"Says you." Emmett laughed loudly, making me hold the phone away from my ear. "See you at the restaurant at seven."

"Oh my god!" I panted, swiping my forearm over my damp forehead. "I thought you were mad at me!"

It was somewhere around three o'clock the next afternoon, but I didn't know exactly what time since we were lying on the floor in our front entryway.

Bella had said good-bye to Emmett and Rosalie as quickly as possible at the airport and urged me to get in the car and go. On the ride home, she began an enthusiastic and somewhat breathless account of her week on the island, most of which she had already told me on the phone. When her hand rested on my thigh, at first I thought it was just a casual gesture. But then she ran her hand up a little higher…

"What are you doing, sugar?" I asked, interrupting her monologue.

"Um…showing you how much I missed you?" she smiled deviously when I glanced at her. I looked back at the road and she leaned in to run her tongue along the edge of my ear and down the side of my neck.

I drove a lot faster.

We barely made it in the front door before she attacked me, jumping into my arms. I wasn't braced for her and we tumbled to the foyer floor in a heap with me on the bottom.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she cried.

"Don't be sorry, just be naked," I said, completely serious even though I was grinning.

With impressive speed and skill, she complied. Instead of settling back on top of me, she slid down and nestled between my legs. I didn't like that I couldn't see her naked form very well that way, but a moment later when she had my jeans down around my ankles and her hot breath was over my cock through my underwear, I felt pretty good about it.

"Bellaaa!" I groaned after several long minutes of teasing me through the cotton fabric.

In response she grabbed the waist band and pulled my boxer briefs out and then down where I could kick them off along with my jeans. Her mouth enveloped my head and she sucked gently, her tongue pressing firmly against the underside. When she took me in further and found a fast rhythm, it felt so unbelievably good I thought I was going to jump out of my skin. I couldn't make up my mind between leaning up to watch her and laying back with my eyes closed to soak in the physical sensations.

I came so soon, I was almost embarrassed. I felt like I was seventeen again. Five minutes later when I was hard again from Bella straddling me and rubbing her hot, wet center up and down my cock, I decided there were advantages to feeling like a seventeen year old.

With a smooth, easy maneuver (if I do say so myself) I rolled us so that Bella was on her back. I sat up and peeled off my shirt and the socks I hadn't been able to get off before. Bella moaned and I looked down to see her appreciating my…visual aspects, with a hungry gleam in her eyes. The feeling was mutual as I looked over her, laid out for me.

As anxious I was to be inside her again, I decided to return the favor first and I wasted no time diving between her legs.

"Miss Bella, I do believe you waxed for me!" I teased, as I ran my hand along her silky smooth thigh and the new, very teeny bikini line.

"I did," she agreed with a wicked grin. "And it hurt like a mother so you better show me some appreciation."

So I did. I showed her appreciation until she was hit with an orgasm that left her limp and panting on the floor. When I sat up again, she rolled onto her stomach with a deep sigh.

"That was soooo nice. I'm just going to take a quick little nap right here…"

I laughed low and deep. "You go right ahead, sugar, but I'm not a bit tired." I knelt with my knees on either side of her pretty little white ass, lowering my upper body with hands planted on just above each shoulder until I could kiss the back of her neck.

She whimpered and shifted, but didn't show any other signs of rousing, so I continued down her spine kissing, licking, huffing warm breaths on her moist skin. I kept going, making her giggle when I kissed each of her buttocks several times. She remained prone, pretending to be asleep, but the way the corner of her mouth quirked and twitched and the occasional sighs, soft moans and slight tremors gave her away. I decided to play along a little, sitting up slightly to give her a relaxing massage—starting with her ass. She squirmed before settling back down with another deep, deep sigh. I worked my way up slow and sure, relishing the feel of her skin under my hands and the anticipation steadily building in my groin. When I leaned forward to reach her shoulders, she took the opportunity to raise her butt slightly, brushing my sensitive erection.

"_That_ was the signal," I growled, grabbing her hips and pulling them up. She followed my hint and pulled her knees up under her a little.

"The signal for what?" she asked, trying to sound innocent.

"For me to wake you up," I murmured in her ear, as I pressed into her from behind, slow and easy.

Bella moaned, bucking beneath me to speed me up. She braced her forearms on the floor, arching her back and throwing her head up. I couldn't withstand and invitation like that, so I took her hard and fast, groaning with the pleasure of it and the difficulty in holding back so it didn't end too soon.

She altered her position a few times; higher up on her knees or arms, head down on her forearms, until finally she had her legs up under her, her ass pushed back to meet me, and her hands supporting her upper body. I made a note of the position when I hit that spot in Bella that made her pant and beg until she came, her inner muscles contracting around me. It was a relief to let go and join her as I was actually _not_ seventeen anymore and my knees and arms were giving out on me. I rolled onto my back beside her, hot, sweaty and thoroughly satisfied.

"Oh my god! I thought you were mad at me!"

Bella laughed though she was still trying to catch her breath. "Mad can wait. Horny took precedence. I missed you so much."

"Sugar, I missed you, too. In fact, no more going to Hilton Head without me, okay?"

She turned on her side so she could look down into my face. "Actually Edward, we need to talk about that."


	31. Chapter 31 Jasper's Outtake

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter 31**

**Jasper's Outtake: Family Lost & Found**

For most of the short drive across the island, it was eerily silent in the car. I was struggling to fight off the stinging sensation behind my eyes. I knew if I opened my mouth something devastating was going to happen.

My dad pulled up to the curb and stopped outside the Sea Pines community gates. He stared at the burled walnut console of the car a moment. "Try to understand, Jasper. If we stay, we're never going to see you anyway."

I swallowed hard and sat up, leaning between the two front seats to look at them both. Pleading would do no good. I knew they were going to do it no matter what. We'd been having this argument off and on for two days and they hadn't budged. I begged while they packed. I offered alternatives while they ate dinner and pretended they didn't hear me. But I couldn't stop myself from trying one more time.

"I would come see you. Every day. Or as often as they let me. And it wouldn't be forever. Just—"

"Ten years! We could go to prison for ten years! Can you understand that? Is that what you want?" My father lost his patience and yelled, slamming his fist against the dash.

_No_, I thought. _I__want__you__not__to__have__avoided__paying__taxes__while__you__kept__pretending__we__were__still__rich.__I__want__you__to__care__about__me__more__than__yourself.__I__want__a__real__father.__A__real__family._

But I said nothing. I bit the inside of my cheek to help me stay quiet.

"Honey, please. Don't make this harder than it has to be. We'll get in touch with you as soon as possible. And when you're old enough we'll find a way to let you know where we are and you can come join us." My mother turned her big, expressive eyes on me, begging me to make it easy on them to leave me.

"You're not a child anymore. You're old enough to understand that sometimes you have to do the wrong things for the right reason," my dad said. He had swallowed down his temper and was trying to adopt a wise, world weary tone. He just sounded self-righteous and pathetic.

I sat back against the leather seat, resting my arms on my two gigantic Army surplus duffel bags. My mom hated them. She said they were cheap and tacky looking, but I bought them with my birthday money, so she couldn't do anything about them.

"If you're going to do it, just do it. Let's go," I snapped.

"We're already here," my dad said shortly, gesturing at the gates.

"You're—aren't you going to take me to their house?"

They looked at each other and then my dad looked out the window and my mom looked at me pitifully.

"What? You did ask them, didn't you? They know I'm coming?" I felt a bubble of panic rise in my chest.

"We thought it would be better coming from you, honey. Carlisle and Esme love you. They'll understand."

I was twelve years old. I was not going to cry. Pulling the door handle and kicking the door open, I threw one of my duffels out onto the grass and pulled the other one behind me. I sat down on one and buried my fists in my eyes. I heard the electric window glide smoothly down and my mother's voice call my name several times.

"Jasper Davis Whitlock, answer your mother!" my father boomed. I didn't even flinch. As I stepped out of their about-to-be-repossessed Lexus, their parental authority had ceased to exist for me. They were throwing me away by the side of the road. Even if it was the side of a very nice road with some of the nicest houses on the island just beyond the gate, they were still throwing me away.

"I am ashamed of your behavior. I hope you grow up to be a better man." And with one short sob from my mother, they drove away.

I stayed perfectly still, turning plan after plan over in my head, trying to find somewhere I could go, something I could do to support myself and stay in school and not let anyone know what had happened. In the end I was too frightened, too hurt, too angry to do anything but sit there and wait for something else to happen to me.

That night hanging out in Edward's room after dinner was weird. I'd done it a thousand times before. I slept at their house more than my own for the last three years. But we both knew everything was different now.

Carlisle had seen me sitting on the curb as he pulled up to the gates after work. Instead of rolling down the window and interrogating me, he pulled over to the side of the drive and got out of his car. I felt him sit next to me on my duffel.

"I'm not going to break anything in here am I?" he asked.

"No." I shook my head for emphasis and pointed at the other bag. "All the breakable stuff's in there."

"Smart."

We sat there for a moment, my eyes aching from me pressing on them for so long with my fists. It was dusk and the street lights were on.

"Jasper, did your parents leave?" Carlisle asked in an even tone.

I nodded once. "Do you know why?" I asked, staring at his comfortable looking black dad-at-work shoes. No Gucci slip-ons or designer labels for Carlisle, although I'm sure he could have afforded them.

"I heard something about tax problems. None of my business. But what you're doing sitting here _is_ my business."

Swallowing hard, I decided to just spit it out plain and simple. "They left me because it would be too much trouble to try to hide out with a kid. They were hoping you…I mean, that I could…stay with you for a little while. Just til I can figure something out."

"No, Jasper, not until you figure something out. You're already like family. If you'll agree to come home with me now, it'll be as part of our family, not a guest."

He didn't hesitate, didn't think it over or wait to talk to Esme. Just came right out and asked me to be his other son. And I bawled like a baby while he hugged me to his side, because it was the secret thing I had wished for ever since the first time Edward invited me over.

After I calmed down, Carlisle helped me put my bags in his trunk and we drove up to the house. Edward was surprised but happy to see me come in with his dad.

"What's up, Jasper? You spending the night?" he asked, seeing the duffels by the front door. "Jeez, did you bring everything you own?"

"Your mom and I need to speak to Jasper privately for a while, Edward. Take his bags up to your room and you two can catch up later."

Edward looked mystified, but he did what Carlisle asked without further questions. When I came out of the study a couple hours later red-eyed and embarrassed, but feeling a little more like the world was going to keep on spinning, Edward and Kate were sitting on the living room couch pretending to watch TV.

"Go on upstairs and get a quick shower before dinner, Jasper," Esme suggested. I took her up on it happily, ducking my head to avoid Edward and Kate's curious stares as I jogged up the stairs.

I don't know what all was said while I was gone, but when I came down to dinner, it was just like always. It was so easy to forget for stretches of time that this was anything other than one more sleepover at the Cullen house. When it hit me now and again that my parents were gone and had left me behind, I fought to let the laughter and the dinner conversation drown it out.

After dinner the kids, including me, were responsible for doing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen. Kate bossed Edward around which I found funny, and then bossed me around, which was not as funny, but I still kind of liked it.

It wasn't until Edward and I were alone in his room getting ready to go to sleep in his twin beds that I started really feeling the impact of the day. My head pounded and I felt a heavy kind of lethargy pulling at me, wanting to pull me under to escape the impossible, painful reality. What if Edward didn't want me here full-time, taking up his space and stealing a part of his place in the family as the only son? I started to ask him a couple of times, but the way just wouldn't come to me. And I guess I was afraid of what would happen if the answer wasn't good.

"So, is it okay to tell people at school?" Edward asked out of the blue.

My stomach lurched at the thought. "No! About my parents ditching me?"

"Oh." He sat, apparently lost in thought. "No, okay, I guess not. It would be cool, though."

I climbed into my bed and let my head sink into the pillow. I felt like I was floating almost immediately. My mind and body were so, so tired. "What would be cool?" I asked after a moment.

"You know, to tell everybody we're brothers," he said matter-of-factly.

"Brothers," I repeated and the comforting spirit of the word lulled me into a deep, hard sleep.

**A Year Later**

_"The True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety, and whose self-control is equal to all emergencies; who does not make the poor man conscious of his poverty, the obscure man of his obscurity, or any man of his inferiority or deformity; who is himself humbled if necessity compels him to humble another; who does not flatter wealth, cringe before power, or boast of his own possessions or achievements; who speaks with frankness but always with sincerity and sympathy; whose deed follows his word; who thinks of the rights and feelings of others, rather than his own; and who appears well in any company, a man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe."_

_John Walter Wayland (Virginia 1899)_

I read the words over to myself, and then again and once again. They were old-fashioned, but they spoke to me. My father's jab about hoping I would become a better man had never left me, although I was sure our ideas about what made a man better were very different.

To me, the words leaping off the screen at me as I researched a paper for U.S. History, were like a blueprint for becoming a better man. Don't think too much of yourself or too little of others. Respect and decency. That's what it all boiled down to.

I was never completely done letting go of the feelings of pain and betrayal, but I worked at it. Carlisle checked in with me on a regular basis, inviting me into his study to just talk. When my mother called for the first time about ten months after they left, Carlisle asked me to go with him the next morning even though it was a school day to walk the site of a house he had designed. We talked about general stuff, which was comforting even though I knew it was just filler until we got to the point of the conversation.

We stood on the second floor of the fully framed-out residence, looking over a lush stand of moss-draped trees and the swampy cove just beyond it, when Carlisle finally jumped in.

"So, how'd it go when you talked to your mother?"

"Uh, weird mostly. There wasn't much to say."

"I suppose not," he said, nodding and rocking on his heels. "I suppose not."

I glanced at him, surprised to realize that he was nervous. Not sure what to say, I just nodded and waited.

"Well, Esme and I were wondering what she wanted exactly—if it's not too personal."

"No," I denied quickly. "It's just nothing really. She didn't want anything. She just said they missed me and all."

"They didn't want you to come meet them?"

Now I was really surprised. "No, she wouldn't even tell me where they are." A gut-wrenching thought suddenly occurred to me. "I could ask next time…I know I've been staying with you guys for a long time."

"No! No, Jasper, we don't want you to go anywhere. That's why I was asking. We were afraid you might be planning to go with them and I'm sorry, I know this may be out of line, but I think you're better off with us." He grinned at me, looking a lot like Edward. "I know we're better off with you."

I was embarrassed and pleased and totally unsure of what to say to that, but Carlisle just went on.

"We're all making this up as we go along, Jasper. Your parents are your parents for better or worse and I try very hard not to say anything negative about them. However, you are another son to me and I can't help that I felt a little threatened when your mother called."

And now I was floored. He wasn't saying I had overstayed my welcome, he was saying that he was afraid of losing me to my mother and father. That he and Esme had talked about it and worried about it.

"Even if they wanted me, I wouldn't want to go," I said fiercely. "I like…the way things are and I appreciate…everything." I finished lamely. I'd meant to say something profound about feeling like I'd found my true family.

Carlisle clapped his hand on my shoulder and squeezed a little. "I'll just say this and we can go get some lunch before I take you back to school: If we could, Esme and I would legally adopt you. Since we can't, just consider yourself adopted, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks…." I wanted to say 'Dad', but it felt awkward and forced even in my head. Instead I turned in for an awkward yet manly hug before asking if we could stop at Sonic for lunch.

Over the years given names and the titles of Dad and Mom, Sister and Brother, Friend and Family became somewhat interchangeable. It may have seemed odd to other people, but the Cullens and I liked it that way. Not feeling obligated to make lengthy explanations to everyone we met, but openly acknowledging one another as family. Whenever I was on the edge of feeling sorry for myself, I tried to imagine what my life might have been if my parents had stayed and self-pity quickly turned to gratitude.


	32. Chapter 32 Don't Fear the Reaper

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter 32**

**Don't Fear the Reaper**

**Bella's POV**

"Hello?" I called into the empty-seeming house. The front door was unlocked, but no one answered my knock or repeated rings of the doorbell.

I stepped in, looking around cautiously. When he called this morning saying he had some things he needed to give me, I had almost refused to come. I was now wishing I hadn't as it looked like I'd made a wasted trip.

"Hello?" I yelled louder, a note of irritation creeping into my voice.

"Upstairs!" he called, as if he'd said it before and was getting a little irritated himself.

I climbed the stairs slowly, wondering what I was going to find, trying to prepare myself for anything. What I saw was beyond anything I had imagined.

"_What_ are you doing?" I demanded.

"Hey, Bells. Just packing up your old room. Some of this stuff I was sure you would want, but some of it you have to go through and decide."

My dad, Charlie Swan, the Chief of Police, sat cross-legged on the floor of my old room going through my old desk drawers and packing things carefully into a cardboard box. My closet stood open showing it to be empty and several more cardboard boxes stood taped and stacked neatly against the wall.

"Don't you think I should have been the one to go through all of this?" I asked. I tried in vain to think what in the world might have been in my closet or desk drawers that I wouldn't want my father to see.

He glanced up at me briefly with a smirk. "Afraid you're going to get grounded for sneaking out of the house to see that Newton kid in high school?"

"_What_? You couldn't know that from anything that was in those drawers!" Ridiculously, I felt my face flaming.

"No, I knew it at the time. I heard you go out."

I sat down on the floor with a thud, letting my purse drop beside me. "Why'd you let me go?"

"Oh, I figured if you felt like you had to see him, then you had to see him. I could always count on you, so I wasn't too worried about your reasons." He grinned at me again, a little twinkle in his eye. "Besides, you were back in like half an hour. You couldn't have been having too much fun."

"Dad!"

"Sorry, sorry. Just kidding."

I tried to huff, but it turned into a rueful laugh. "You're right though. I was breaking up with him. I chickened out earlier that night and I couldn't sleep until I got it over with."

"Well," he said and stopped for a moment, going back to his sorting. "Sometimes I wished you had more fun in high school."

"_Dad_!" I said, sounding like a broken record.

"Not like that! Jeesh! I just mean, you were usually so serious and careful. It seemed like Emmett got all the fun out of life and you were too scared to have any."

"I had fun," I muttered. "You make me sound like some kind of shut-in."

"I don't mean it that way. I just worried you were too much like me."

"That's not such a bad thing. You're not so bad as dads go." I grinned at him when he rolled his eyes in my direction.

"Stop. You'll make me blush." He hauled himself up to his feet with a dad groan and stretched his back carefully. "I'm going to turn the honors over to you, Bells. We gotta get the house in order to put it on the market."

I started to hold my tongue, but I couldn't help it. "Don't you think maybe you should hang on to the house until you're sure things are going to work out in Florida?"

"We'll make them work out. This is the plan I agreed to and I'm fully committed to it." He stopped to consider a moment. "More than that. I'm excited about it. Crazy, huh?"

I nodded in agreement with that. "Crazy about covers it."

"Try to understand, hon. Your mom always wanted to make a fresh start, live somewhere warm and tropical. She didn't, because she wanted to be with me more. Now I want to give her that experience while we're still relatively young enough to enjoy it."

"You guys are lucky you found each other," I finally said, feeling a little choked up and a lot ridiculous at having this conversation with my dad in my childhood bedroom.

"Luck and a lot of hard work. And a lot of mistakes along the way. But yes, we're lucky, I guess."

"Dad?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think…" I stopped myself, wondering if this was a good idea.

"Do I think what?"

"We're looking at a lot of big changes. Edward says he wants to marry me."

He nodded and waited as if this was old news.

I took a deep breath and plunged in. "I thought I was sure once before… Do you think Edward would ever, you know, cheat on me? I mean, no, I know he wouldn't, but then I wonder. I think we all know I'm not the best judge of that kind of thing."

Shaking his head, he took a seat on the end of my bed, folding his hands between his knees and looking at me thoughtfully. "No, Bella. I don't think Edward would cheat on you. I think he loves you. That being said, there are no guarantees. Life is messy and difficult and good people sometimes make terrible mistakes. Like I did when I let your mother leave with you and Emmett, because my stupid pride wouldn't let me beg her to stay.

"At the end of the day, you choose who you want to be with based on whether they are worth the struggle, not because you think you can avoid the struggle, okay?"

"Okay, Dad." I swallowed over the lump that formed in my throat.

"Okay. Now get the rest of this girly mess packed up and I'll take you to the diner for lunch."

On the way home with the Volvo packed full of boxes, I called Edward at work. It was one of the new terms in the latest round of negotiations in How to Deal with the James Situation; I called and checked in when I was going somewhere and when I was coming back. Maybe a little over-the-top, maybe not, but if it kept Edward from doing anymore covert sting operations, it was worth it.

The night I got home we talked about it…eventually. I was angry with Edward for putting himself in harm's way, but it wasn't the kind of angry I could hang on to. I knew it came from a need to protect me, just as I knew it was a way to deal with the stress and uncertainty.

"My biggest problem with what you did, was that you did it behind my back. I don't like having to worry that you're hiding things from me," I tried to explain.

"Well—"

"And if you think you're doing the right thing, you should be able to talk to me about it."

"I know, but—"

"We talked about this before. I want us to be in this together and—"

"Bella, stop! Are you going to let me say anything?"

I clapped my hand over my mouth, indicating that he should go on, but he just stared at me for a long moment.

"I can't remember what I was going to say," he finally admitted sheepishly.

"Sorry," I said, dropping my hand to his arm. "I get carried away."

"It's fine. It's just…before we start talking I know I'm right and then you start talking and I can't remember what made me think so."

"So maybe you're wrong," I shrug.

"Or maybe you just talk circles around me until I'm too confused to argue."

I shrugged. "Whatever works."

"Seriously, I am sorry for the deception. That was uncalled for and I only did because I knew you would talk me out of it."

"Of course I would have! It was dangerous!"

"But he wound up in jail where he belongs!"

"And now he's out again and god knows what he might do next!"

That sparked the new round of planning and preparing for whatever James might do next and the argument was put to rest for the time being which brings us back to the phone call I placed to Edward as I was leaving my dad's house.

"Hey sugar," he answered immediately. "What did Charlie want?"

"Turns out he wanted to unload all my childhood crap so they can get the house ready to sell. You wouldn't believe the amount of stuff I couldn't bear to part with. I never realized how sentimental I am."

"I'd love to get a look at that stuff. Bella as a young girl—that might explain a few things."

"Like what? I'm not that deep you know. I'm a pretty simple, straightforward kind of girl." I chose to ignore the rude snort of disbelief on the other end of the phone.

"So, you think you'll make it for dinner tonight? I have a proposal for you."

"What kind? Marriage or indecent? Cause I already said I'd marry you and I'm open to any indecent proposals you may have in mind."

"Neither marriage nor indecent, Mr. Cullen. You'll have to show up to dinner at home by 7:30 to find out."

"I'm intrigued. And I'll be there. For now, I better get back to work so I don't get the stink eye when I duck out two hours after quitting time."

I parked the Volvo in the driveway so I could unload all the boxes into the garage where I usually parked. When Edward got home I would ask him to put them up in the attic through the hatch door in the garage ceiling. At least to myself, I admitted that it was sometimes helpful to play the weak little woman role. Like when I didn't want to go into the dark, probably spider-filled attic space.

The creepy feeling that I was being watched made me rush to get the boxes in the garage and get the overhead door closed. It wasn't that I really believed James was there, it was just that these days that feeling was always with me no matter how I tried to tame it. I went inside and set the house alarm, allowing me to relax.

After a quick pick-up of the house, I took a shower, dressed in fresh comfortable clothes and called Bruce for a few more details on an interesting offer he had made to me and one I had for him. I was going to talk it all over with Edward tonight and I wanted to make sure I could answer any questions he might have. When I hung-up with Bruce, I got dinner started. I had the radio tuned to the retro station Rose had gotten me hooked on and I was singing along loud, proud and totally off-key with Der Kommissar.

A warm, electric kind of energy was thrumming through my veins. Everything was coming together, crystallizing into a clear vision of what I wanted out of life. I just hoped I could get Edward on the same page. I had started to talk to him about it the night I got home when he asked me not to go to Hilton Head without him anymore.

"I don't want to go without you anymore. But, I do want to go back—together." I turned over on my stomach so I could look down into his face. "The whole time I was there I kept thinking how great it would be to live there, to be there for Alice and Jasper and their baby, to be with your family. And my family is going to be much closer to Hilton Head than here soon. I just…what do you think?"

He stared at me, bemused, watching my face for signs that I was kidding or not sure.

"I…I don't know. It sounds great, but what about my job? What about your job? What about Emmett and Rosalie?"

"I know, I know. I know there's stuff we'd have to figure out, but I think I could figure my stuff out. I could find a job down there, or even talk to Bruce about the restaurant he offered me. I don't know for sure that he's found a place or a chef yet. And leaving Emmett and Rose would be hard, but so is Alice and Jasper leaving us. We'd come here, they'd come there—it could be done.

"I'm more concerned about your job. I know how much it meant to you to work for Tom. But…lately it doesn't seem like it's turned out to be everything you hoped for."

"No," he admitted after a moment. "I guess it's not exactly what I hoped for, but it could be, in time. I have to pay my dues and put in the time on the ordinary projects. It's fair—it's not easy, but it's fair."

My heart dropped at his words. He didn't want to move back to Hilton Head. I had been so sure that he would jump at the chance.

"So you really want to stay here in Seattle?"

"No, not forever, but if I quit now, I'll feel like I'm giving up." He hooked his fingers around mine and rested our joined hands on his cheek. "Look, I've thought about it, believe me, I've thought about it a lot, but I don't want to be a quitter. I probably wouldn't get an opportunity like this again."

I closed my eyes and mentally wiped away the images that had been dancing in my head the last few days; Edward and I walking on the beach in the evening, having big family dinners with the Cullen clan, seeing Alice grow and change through her pregnancy, and getting to be there with her and Jasper as they became parents for the first time. I told myself it was wishful vacation thinking and time to return to reality which was pretty damn good overall.

"No, no," I laughed ruefully. "You're right, it makes more sense to stay put. I just had a great time there and I'm still on my vacation high."

So we had let the subject drop between us, but I was still having trouble letting it go in my mind. I had done a lot more thinking and spoke to Bruce and I decided I needed to lay it all out on the table again. I would tell Edward what I really wanted, I would listen to what he wanted and we would find a way to make it work. The biggest problems in our relationship had happened because we held something back, didn't say something that needed to be said.

The low rumble of the garage door opening alerted me that Edward was home. I hopped over to the back entryway to turn off the alarm and unlock the door for him and hurried back to the stove to continue stirring the butter for the béarnaise sauce so it wouldn't scorch on the bottom of the pan.

"Dinner's almost ready. If you want to get a quick shower, you have just about enough time, but don't keep me waiting!" I called playfully when I heard the backdoor open. The song changed to one of my all time favorites to listen to and to play, _Don__'__t__Fear__the__Reaper_. When Edward didn't speak or touch me, I turned to see what was wrong.

James stood six feet from me, holding his hands up in surrender, watching me intently.

"It's okay, Bella. It's okay." He spoke quietly, reassuringly like you would to a frightened animal or a small child.

"You can't be here James." I tried to put on my most authoritative kitchen boss voice, but I couldn't quite pull it off while practically choking on adrenaline.

"He's not here, you don't have to worry. We can really talk now."

"Talk about what? He told me you kept saying that—that you needed to talk to me. I just want you to leave me alone!" The hysteria in my mind was quickly leaching into my voice.

"No, Bella! You know how great it was when we worked the line together! We were in synch, like totally read each other. We could have that again. We'll open up our own place and put all this behind us." He took a step closer and reached out a hand to me. "I'm not mad."

I found that funny in my fear-induced hysteria. I knew he meant he wasn't angry, but clearly he _was_ stark raving mad. I fought back a bitter laugh, trying to get my faculties working. I doubted I could reason with him, I couldn't physically overpower him, and I believed that despite his empty hands and calm manner, he could easily be provoked to violence.

"James, I need you to understand that I love Edward. We're getting married." He gave a dismissive shake of his head, frowning. "We can just put this behind us. Forget the whole thing, okay? You're a great cook, you could start your own place if that's what you want to do."

James stepped back and leaned against the countertop, crossing his arms over his chest. He stared at me hard, not speaking. I could see the muscles in his jaw twitching. The smell of burning butter pulled my attention back to the stove and I pushed the pan off the burner while turning the switch to "off". I glanced at the clock on the stove, both praying for and dreading Edward's arrival from work. God only knew what would happen when he showed up and found James in our house. A cold-sweat-inducing shudder ran through me.

Time ticked by as I stood frozen to the spot, waiting for the next move he would make. But he stood just as still, watching me with a calculating stare. The evocative, lyrical notes of the song seemed suddenly louder and I couldn't help being angry that I would never be able to love it the same way again. Gradually, I began to move, continuing with the meal preparation he had interrupted. It was stupid, pointless, but it calmed the raging adrenaline spikes threatening to make me pass out or throw up. After turning the steaks on the indoor grill, I glanced at the clock on the wall surreptitiously, but it didn't escape James's notice.

"He'll be home soon. We should get going." It was stated calmly and directly with no hint of a question.

"You should," I corrected. I stumbled over the words, my breath coming in short, panicked bursts. "Go James. I won't tell anyone."

His hand was gripping my arm hard before I fully registered that he was moving behind me. "Come on, we're going now. He keeps you locked up like a pet and tells you lies about me. We need to talk."

"If I wanted to talk to you, I would!" I cried, trying to pull my arm away from him, but he clamped down harder setting my hysteria into overdrive. "I'm afraid of you! I don't want to ever see you again! _I__hate__you_!"

I planted my feet on the floor and grabbed on to the handle of the oven door. There was no way in hell I was going to let James take me out of my house. Giving a wrenching tug on my right arm, he caused me to lose my grip on the oven door handle with my left hand, but before he could pull me any further, I grabbed the handle of the sauté pan I had been using to melt butter. I wanted to fling it in his face, but I couldn't get enough power or the right angle to do it.

The pan hit around his hip bone and splattered molten butter down his side and all over the floor. He screamed in pain and anger, but to my shock he didn't loosen his grip on my arm. He continued to pull me toward the backdoor, which was easier now that I was sliding through the greasy floor with my bare feet.

I kept grabbing for drawer handles and countertop edges, trying to stop his momentum, so he increased his effort, causing his feet to lose traction and land him flat on his back on the floor, finally letting go of my aching arm. Following right after, I landed halfway on top of him, but quickly scrambled backward and hid behind the island.

I could hear him moving around, trying to get back to his feet without slipping in the butter again and I wracked my brain for a plan. There was nothing but abject fear and dread. All I could think to do was try to get him talking so he wouldn't hurt me.

"You said you wanted to talk, James. We can talk here if you just stay where you are," I called from my position on the floor behind the island. I leaned my back against it, just to have the feel of something stable.

"You want to wait until he gets home? I'll kill him this time." His voice came from above me and on the other side of the island. When he spoke again he was standing just to my right. "This time I have the advantage and I'll take him out before he knows what hit him."

I closed my eyes and swallowed the rising bile caused by the image he evoked. "Why? He's only trying to protect me. Why do you want to hurt me?"

He laughed mockingly and moved around to sit down in front of me, our knees almost touching. "I never wanted to hurt you. I wanted us to be together and it would've happened if it weren't for him."

"That makes no sense! You were after my job, remember? It was never about me!" I clenched my fists on my knees, trying to control my rage. "Edward didn't take me from you—you and I were never anything but coworkers."

"It was _always_ about you! We were never just coworkers and you know it!" James moved up on his knees and lowered his face until our foreheads were inches apart. "You knew it, but you went and whored yourself out to _him_ anyway and rubbed it in my face!"

I shook my head and started to speak, but he grabbed my arms and squeezed painfully until I cried out.

"I thought I didn't want you anymore after that. You were just a disgusting slut!" I felt his breath on my face as he yelled, but then he shoved me back against the island and sat back on his haunches. "I tried to concentrate on getting my own restaurant so I could show you—but no, you sabotaged that. I wanted to hate you, but I couldn't stop thinking about you, couldn't stop watching you."

I wanted so badly to close my eyes, to shut out his crazed, hateful face, but I needed to know what was coming next. I had to try to protect myself just as Edward had tried so hard to protect me.

"Then I saw you in the parking lot that night, all dressed up. You were beautiful…and you were scared. I saw it on your face and then I knew, he was controlling you, forcing you to stay with him. Keeping you from me."

"I was afraid of _you_, not Edward. You had threatened me, you were stalking me! You need help, James." Calmly, rationally, I tried to explain the benefits of psychological counseling to a nutjob. He looked at me like I was speaking Swahili.

The sound of the garage door opening again startled us both onto our feet.

"Don't move, don't make a sound, or I will kill him!" James hissed. Unfortunately, for him he had already stated his intention to do just that no matter what I did, so I planned to scream like a banshee. At least I could give Edward some warning before James attacked. Before I could gather my breath, I saw James reach under his untucked shirt, into the waistband of his jeans and draw out a small gun.

The doorknob rattled as Edward inserted his keys. I had only seconds to act. I jerked the heavy cast iron skillet off the pot rack with a practiced up/down motion and swung it as hard as I could at the hand holding the gun. James howled in pain as the gun clattered to the floor and I swung again, bringing the side of the pan down on the side of his head. I felt something in my right wrist snap, the frying pan thudded to the floor alongside James's prone form and Edward burst through the door all at the same time.

Officer Evington wasn't with the responding police this time, but he showed up about forty-five minutes later in his street clothes, looking like your average dad on the weekend. I thought of Charlie and felt suddenly guilty for expecting this brave, but ordinary family man to stand between me and James. I was glad it hadn't come to that.

"You holding up okay?" he asked me after speaking to several other officers.

I nodded and shrugged at the same time. Edward sat beside me, rubbing my left hand between both of his. We had hardly spoken since Edward came in the door. He had stepped over James and grabbed me, sitting on the disgustingly slick, slimy floor and pulling me onto his lap. I cradled my injured wrist against his chest as he fished his phone out of his pocket and called 9-1-1. And then we sat and waited. He rocked me gently and kissed my hair from time to time while I listened to his heartbeat wildly and wondered if James was dead.

A police squad car arrived within minutes, followed quickly by two ambulances and several more cars, marked and unmarked. The sound of the sirens stirred James slightly; one hand opened a little and closed immediately, accompanied by an indistinct groan. I wasn't sure if I was relieved or disappointed that he was alive at least for the moment. I didn't want to be responsible for killing a human being, but I didn't want to ever see him again in this life.

The first team of paramedics took James away as I sat next to Edward in the living room, trying explain what had happened to the police. The second team looked me over and one of them bandaged my wrist when I refused to be taken to the hospital.

"You're going to have to see a doctor first thing tomorrow," a female paramedic told me. She was around my age with short spiky blonde hair and a no nonsense attitude. "It's almost certainly broken."

"I'll make sure she goes," Edward said quietly. When she didn't immediately pack up and move away, I looked at her questioningly.

"You're exhibiting some signs of shock. Both of you. We're just going to stick close for a bit."

I followed her gaze to Edward. His face was chalk white to the lips, strain showing in every line.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered, stricken.

"What?" He leaned closer to hear me and I wrapped my arms around his head and pulled him to me.

"I'm so, so sorry!" I said again, much louder because I was sobbing now. "I turned off the alarm. I opened the door for him."

During the questioning, I had explained about hearing the garage door open and thinking it was Edward. One of the officers let me know that the passenger side window on my Volvo was smashed in and the assumption was that James had broken into my car to use the garage door opener on my visor. Edward said he didn't notice the missing window when he drove up even though he wondered why my car was in the driveway instead of the garage.

The breath whooshed out of my body as Edward crushed me to him, smoothing my hair and rubbing down my back.

"Don't, Bella, don't. It wasn't your fault. You saved my life, you know. You're amazing, sugar, you're everything. I'm just so…grateful that you're okay."

"I'm not okay. I'm _not_ okay." I clung on to him, crying into his shoulder. I knew I was acting crazy, that they were going to think I was going into shock or losing my mind. The overwhelming, horrifying, pent-up emotions of the night were coming back up and there was nothing I could do about it.

"Yes, you are," Edward insisted fiercely. His hands rubbed soothing circles over my back as he murmured reassurances in my ear.

"Miss Swan." I looked up at the interruption and found Officer Evington standing in front of us with a glass of orange juice.

Edward reached for it with a grateful nod and handed it to me. I didn't really want it, but it gave me something to do to steady my nerves and for whatever reason, it tasted fantastic; cold and perfect.

Evington sat down on the coffee table, facing Edward and I on the couch. I had the errant thought that I was glad someone had thrown a blanket over the couch to protect it from our greasy, buttery clothes.

"I'm really sorry you had to go through this tonight," the officer said to me, "but he's going away for a long time now. And that's after he recovers from the head injury."

"Good," I said vindictively. "I hope he rots in jail. I hope he has brain damage. I wish I had killed him!"

Edward tightened his hold on me, but said nothing. I knew he felt the same way. Whatever James's mental problems were, any sympathy we might have felt was gone when he invaded our home and tried to take me out of it. I couldn't even let myself think of what he would've done if he had managed to pull me out of the house and into his car. And he was going to kill Edward. That moment of sickening realization, when the gun came into view, kept playing over and over in my head, followed by imagining that Edward had walked in at that moment and James had shot him point blank as I stood watching helplessly.

"I can't say that I blame you in the least. I would like to recommend that you consider some therapy for victims of violent crime." He handed me a card, I assumed for a therapist, but I didn't really look at it. There would be time enough for that kind of thing later. Right now I just wanted to sleep and to forget.

"Thank you," I said. "Do you know when everyone will leave? I just want to go to bed."

"Soon," he promised. "I'll go see where we are with the evidence gathering."

The paramedics had finally moved away and were beginning to pack up their equipment in preparation for the next horrific tragedy or near-tragedy. I wondered how they dealt with it day in and day out. Nobody calls a paramedic or a cop when something good has happened.

A little less than an hour later, everyone was gone except for me and Edward. Needing to shower and change, we got in together, neither of us wanting to be alone. The warm, steady pressure of the water combined with his gentle, loving hands began to soothe the pent-up misery of the last hours. I washed him lovingly, trying not to think with every caress that I could have lost him. We toweled off and got dressed in comfy sweats and t-shirts.

I was dressed and standing irresolutely beside the bed when he finished.

"Bella?"  
"I don't think I can sleep," I admitted.

"Do you want to take some Advil PM or something?" He stood, uncertain, drying his hair with a hand towel.

"No, it makes me stupid and depressed the next day."

Hanging the towel around his neck, Edward pulled me to him and just hugged me. He held me, rocking gently for several minutes.

"Hey!" he said suddenly, pulling back to look at me. "I know what we're going to do!"

Hurrying to the closet, he rummaged for a minute and pulled out a Target bag. From that he removed a DVD and presented to me with a flourish.

"I saw this the other day while you were gone and I couldn't resist. In honor of the second night you ever spent in my bed…" It was the full season of _Top__Chef:__Chicago_ on DVD.

"Yes?" he asked, as the smile broke out on my face. I nodded and he led me into the living room, stopping only to grab a blanket from the hall closet.

While he wrestled the plastic wrap off the DVD case and put the first disc into the player, I went to the kitchen and put a bag of kettle corn into the microwave. Edward came in just as the popping slowed and we worked together around the mess in the kitchen, not acknowledging it. He put the popcorn in a bowl and got a couple of bottled waters from the refrigerator. I got a bag of almond M&Ms and a handful of napkins from the pantry.

Well into the night, we snacked and talked and watched chefs compete in cooking challenges both ridiculous and sublime. As the sky began to lighten, I finally couldn't stay awake any longer. Edward stretched out on the couch and held the blanket up for me to curl up against him. I fought to let the tension in my shoulders and back go, absorbing everything good from Edward, letting the rest fall away.

I remembered the night we moved in together when I asked him if we ever felt too good to be true to him. Without hesitation he had said no, that what we had was real and right and when things were bad, that's when they seemed unreal to him.

"Everything is going to be okay now," I heard him say as I drifted off to sleep, and I chose to believe him.

**Reviews are not required or expected, but I love them very, VERY much, so…**


	33. Chapter 33 Missionary Man

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter 33**

**Missionary Man**

**Edward's POV**

"I think I'm going to throw up."

"No you're not. Just pick a focal point to concentrate on and breathe slow and deep through your nose."

"It's not going to work. I can feel it. I'm going to throw up."

Losing my patience after ten minutes of this debate, I said, "Well, go ahead and puke then, Jasper. Get it over with and let's get to the damn church."

"Shut up. You're making it worse."

Dad stepped in and put his arm around Jasper's shoulders. The three of us, along with Garrett and Emmett were still at the house in Sea Pines even though we should have left for the church ten minutes before. Just as we were ready to walk out the door, Jasper was hit with a colossal case of nerves that set his stomach roiling.

"You're going to be fine. Just think about Alice waiting for you at that church," Dad said.

"How about y'all go get her and bring her here?"

Dad shook his head, fighting a smile as he moved Jasper toward the door with an arm around his shoulders. "I think she's expecting you at the church. Let's get a move on now."

While Dad got him into Garrett's SUV sandwiched between himself and Emmett, I climbed into the passenger seat and pulled out my cell. I dialed Bella while listening to Emmett and Jasper in the backseat.

"You're the last guy I would expect to get cold feet, man. You're freaking me the hell out. If you can't hold it together what am I going to be like?" Emmett demanded in all seriousness.

"I do _not_ have cold feet. I think I have the stomach flu." Jasper held his head in his hands, his elbows resting on his knees.

"_Hey__honey._" When Bella answered, her voice held a comforting note of calm.

"Hey. We're on our way, just leaving the house."

"_What__'__s__taking__so__long?_"

I glanced back at Jasper who hadn't moved. "Um, nothing. You know. So, how is Alice doing?"

"_Unbelievably__good.__Calm__as__a__cucumber.__Unusually__Zen.__It__'__s__kind__of__creepy._"

I had to laugh at that. "We're having the opposite experience here," I said cryptically.

"_What__do__you__mean?__Is__Jasper__freaking__out?_"

"Sort of. Nauseous."

"Shut up, Edward! Don't tell her that!" Jasper barked.

"_Jeez.__That__didn__'__t__even__sound__like__him.__He__really__is__freaking__out__isn__'__t__he?_"

"Mmmhmm."

"_He__'__ll__be__fine__once__he__sees__her.__Bring__him__straight__to__the__Sunday__school__rooms,__third__door__on__the__left._"

"Okay, will do. See you in five minutes."

**Bella's POV**

Alice and Jasper's wedding was an interesting mix of the traditional and the non-traditional. It may have seemed odd to people who knew anything about her background that she would choose to get married in a church, but Alice had made a conscious decision in her early twenties not to let her parents' fanaticism turn her against God. She had chosen to embrace the Methodist church Jasper and all the Cullens attended. If anyone looked askance at the fact that she and Jasper were already expecting before the wedding, they kept their opinions to themselves and most seemed to take to Alice. Then again, most people did no matter where Alice went.

On the nontraditional side, Alice and Jasper had chosen to ignore the old superstition of not seeing one another before the ceremony. They were going to have a few minutes alone together and then have their pictures taken before the ceremony started. The photographer had suggested the idea, saying that often the pictures were better when done that way, because the excitement and anticipation showed.

After I hung up with Edward, I turned to Alice to let her know Jasper would be arriving within minutes. She was arrayed on a small powder blue velvet loveseat, sitting as comfortable as possible at five months pregnant, wearing what she described as a satin and brocade bell. In truth, she looked beautiful: The dress had a gorgeously complex brocade strapless top that ended just below her breasts and flowed from there in a simple satin skirt, trimmed along the hemline with a inch-wide strip of the same brocade. The dress didn't conceal her burgeoning tummy, but it didn't make a spectacle of it, either.

"How's he doing?" she asked.

"Good, good. Anxious to see you," I hedged.

"He's freaking out isn't he?"

"Maybe a little bit."

"I figured he might. Being the center of attention isn't his idea of a good time. He'll be fine." Alice smiled serenely. I glanced at Rose. She seemed to be just as surprised as I was at Alice's eerie calm.

Earlier one of the older ladies from the church had asked Alice if her parents had arrived and she had very cheerfully informed the lady that her parents wouldn't be caught dead at the wedding because of her pregnancy.

"Well, that's a shame, dear. Don't let it ruin your day."

Alice had grinned and waved it off, "Aw, screw them upside down and backwards."

Rose had badly concealed a laugh behind a cough, but the old lady had laughed out right and patted Alice's shoulder before air kissing her cheek and going to find her seat for the ceremony.

"I think pregnancy is agreeing with you," Rosalie said now, eyeing her with approval.

"It's not just the pregnancy. It's getting to marry Jasper and living in this beautiful place and having you all here. All I need now is for you all to move down here and life would be perfect."

Rosalie laughed and shook her head. "I don't think this island is big enough for me."

I said nothing and Alice quirked an eyebrow at me. Shrugging with a slight smile, I broke eye contact and thankfully she didn't ask anything more once we heard the men coming down the hall.

**Edward's POV**

I wasn't surprised at how beautiful Bella looked in her pale green bridesmaid's dress, because I'd seen her in it earlier that morning. That didn't stop the instant impulse to have my way with her right there in the Sunday school room of the church I grew up in. Luckily, Alice quickly shooed us all out so she could be alone with Jasper and I was able to pull Bella into another room down the hall for a little private time of our own.

"Edward, do _not_ mess up my hair or my make-up!" she warned, putting a stack of child-sized chairs between us.

I held my hands up and tried to look innocent. "I just want a little hug."

"That is not your 'I want a hug' look," she countered.

"Promise. I will not mess up your hair or your make-up," I said. "As long as you don't mess up mine."

Bella walked into my outstretched arms cautiously but with a smirk. Leaning her body into me, but keeping her made-up face away from my tux jacket, she sighed, "You look wonderful."

"You look…I don't even have words." I carefully took her face in my hands and tilted it so that I could feast on the delicate skin of her neck and throat.

Her breathing became louder and more ragged in my ear until she finally groaned with frustration. "Stop," she sighed unconvincingly. "What are you trying to do to me?"

"Mmmmm. I'm _trying_ to make you hot for me. Is it working?" I teased, nipping her earlobe.

"No, not at all. I was just going over my to do list for the week in my head."

"Liar."

"Yes."

Her soft, but desperate tone sent a shiver down my back. My hands roamed over the silk-slippery material of her dress, caressing her back, cupping her butt to pull her harder against me.

"Hel_lo_," she said, sliding her hand down between us to cup my obvious and growing erection. "You better calm down or this is going to get to the altar five minutes before you do."

"Five minutes?" I asked, leaning back to look down in her laughing eyes. "God, I love you and your very flattering powers of exaggeration."

"I love you, too. So much." She kissed me carefully to avoid smearing her lip gloss.

Looking down into her warm, dark eyes, I was struck—and not for the first time that week—by the pure, uncomplicated emotion I found there. "You're really happy aren't you?"

She shrugged and sighed contentedly at the same time. Slipping her arms back around my neck she threw her head back, examining the ceiling for a few moments. "I just feel like all the weight is off my shoulders, like I just let it all go. I wish this could last forever."

My shoulders stiffened at that. "Bella, you know I can't…"

She brought her face back down to look me in the eye. "That's not what I meant. I'm really not trying to guilt you. I just meant, yes, I am having a great time and I'm happy." She kissed me again lightly. "But I'm happy in Seattle, too."

It wasn't that I didn't believe her. Since the night Bella had effectively knocked James out of our lives, we had both worked at moving forward. To begin with, we had hired a cleaning service to come in and give the kitchen the full Silkwood treatment, including removing all the dishes, cookware and utensils from the cabinets and drawers to rewash them. Once it was finished, we spent a few days reorganizing and redecorating a few things to give it a different look, before finally inviting Emmett and Rosalie and Charlie and Renee over for a big family dinner.

The evening had been Bella's idea and it centered around the kitchen. Without her ever saying it outright, I knew she was hoping to use the time with her happily crazy family to replace the nightmarish memories of James in our kitchen. For the most part, it had worked and we began a new phase of our life together without the shadow of James looming over us. In time we would most likely be called to testify against him, but at present the nature of his crime and his erratic behavior in jail had earned him psychiatric observation and a pending psych eval.

Our life together was—finally—normal and only what the two of us chose to make of it. I knew that Bella was content, that she accepted that I wasn't ready to give up working for Francke. She threw herself back into her work at Beck's and seemed to be loving it like she used to.

But for all that, I also knew that the idea of moving to Hilton Head, making a fresh start and being near Alice and Jasper and the new baby had taken hold of her. It was the not-so-secret dream she tried to laugh off and not want too much. But she did want it. And the part that was driving me slowly crazy was that on most levels, I wanted it too and that kept me in a constant state of doubt about whether I was doing the right thing trying to stick it out with Francke.

Seeing her lit up from within, loving the sun and the beaches, she and her family fitting into mine seamlessly, watching her and Alice so thrilled to be back together—all of it was making me feel like the ogre who wanted to drag her away out of pure selfishness.

"We need to get to the vestibule and be ready," Bella reminded me.

I kissed her lightly and held her for just another moment. "Awright then, darlin'," I said, imitating Jasper's redneckiest drawl, "le's git er done!"

Bella rolled her eyes at me. "Maybe you being back down South isn't such a good idea."

**Bella's POV**

Whatever happened between Alice and Jasper between the time he arrived looking a little green around the gills, to the time they arrived in the vestibule with Edward and I and the rest of the bridal party, it had had the desired effect. His nerves seemed to be completely gone, his smile was genuine and he was his normal color.

Alice had fretted over how to handle the fact that she had no parents present to give her away. She had considered asking Charlie, but knowing how he hated being in the spotlight and not knowing how he could succinctly answer the question, "Who gives this woman away?" she and Jasper had come up with an alternate plan.

The music began and Edward and I were first in the procession, followed by Garrett and Kate, Emmett and Rosalie, and one of Jasper's childhood friends, Pete, and his wife Charlotte. At the traditional moment when the wedding march sounded and the double doors at the back of the sanctuary opened, everyone rose to see not just Alice, but Alice and Jasper bringing themselves down the aisle, giving themselves to each other. After all, both of them had been more or less given away in their early lives, so the tradition held a darker meaning for them and had no place on this happiest of days.

Alice was glowing, whether from the pregnancy or just sheer excitement and love, it didn't really matter. Jasper was blushing so hard he was practically glowing himself, but he was also grinning uncontrollably as he held Alice's hand tucked though his arm and beamed down at her.

The wedding ceremony was beautiful, but the reception was something utterly magical. It was held on the back lawn and private beach behind Carlisle and Esme's house with one enormous white tent for dining and another for dancing. Every available palm tree was ringed with tiny white lights and the pool was filled with floating magnolia blossoms and tea candles in small floating hurricane glasses.

The music was a mix of big band, swing and romantic standards. Alice said she wouldn't be caught dead bumping and grinding in a wedding dress _and_ five months pregnant, so this was a better way to go. I had to applaud her choice as Edward and I moved slowly to _A__Kiss__to__Build__a__Dream__On_. We had moved beyond the dance floor out onto the beach so that we were dancing in the sand, our shoes kicked off in a heap next to us. Between the sounds of the music swelling and receding with the rush of the waves in the nearby ocean, the smells of fantastic food and the ripe tangy scent of the beach, the stunning visual beauty of the setting and feel of being in Edward's arms, I was on sensory overload, content to sway purposelessly forever.

**Edward's POV**

As I held Bella, revolving slowly to the music, I knew I was just where I wanted to be.

"I could stay like this forever," I said, surprising myself when it popped out without forethought. I didn't just mean dancing with her under the moonlight, I meant the two of us here, in Hilton Head. For good.

Earlier in the evening while Bella was off doing maid-of-honor stuff with Alice, I had taken advantage of a moment alone with my dad to tell him about Bella's desire to move to the island, the renewed offer from Bruce to open her own restaurant in partnership with him, and my reluctance to quit Francke & Associates. I didn't know exactly why I had held back telling him up to that point, but now the combination of alcohol and the emotion of the day had me talking.

"I could really use your opinion, Dad."

We had walked down to where a low wall separated my parents' yard proper from the private beach. Dad smiled and rubbed his neck thoughtfully before answering. "Maybe mine is not the unbiased opinion you're looking for, Edward. You know I would love nothing more for you to come back to Cullen Architects and run it alongside me."

"I know, but I also know you well enough to know you wouldn't steer me wrong for your own purposes."

Dad sort of laughed and sighed at the same time. "Sometimes I feel that you and Jasper give me too much credit." He sat beside me on the retaining wall, looking out over the gray blue of the ocean in the early morning light. "My biggest fear in life is disappointing you."

Before I could respond he went on, "Edward, just tell me off the top of your head, right now, do you want to stay in Seattle?"

"Not really, no."

"Then what's keeping you there? Bella wants to move here, she has a great career opportunity if she does."

I groaned in frustration. Why could no one understand where I was coming from? "I don't want to be a quitter. I made a commitment to Francke."

"For a year? Ten years? The rest of your life? You don't owe _a__job_ anything more than to do your dead level best while you work there. When you choose to leave is entirely up to you—and Bella, of course."

Standing, I began to pace—as much as possible in the sand—feeling cornered. "What am I supposed to do? Just come back here and go back to working for my father? People will think I failed and had to come running back to you for a job."

"Ah. So this is really about your ego. Well, it's nice to finally know what we're really talking about."

"That's not what I meant."

He held his silence until I stopped shuffling back and forth and sat back down. "Maybe it is a little about my…reputation."

"If what people will think is the most important consideration here, then you need to take a long hard look at your priorities, son. If not, then shove that aside for now and really be honest about what you want.

"And consider this: I know you aren't crazy about the kind of residential designing we specialize in, but if you partner with me, you can help develop a new business plan. We can branch out—we _should_ branch out. The economy has changed everything and we need to change along with it. Come home, Edward. Make Cullen Architects everything you want it to be."

He had turned toward me, imploring me to listen, to see the possibilities. For the first time, I really saw how hard it was for him when I left. The intensity faded into self-consciousness under our direct eye contact. Dad laughed, looking away again.

"Well, you wanted my opinion: There it is. Whatever you decide, I'm proud of you Edward. Always."

Standing up abruptly, he walked back to the house, leaving me to think more seriously about moving back to Hilton Head than I had allowed myself to so far.

Barely an hour later I was back in almost the same spot, dancing cheek to cheek with Bella and feeling more relaxed and at home than I could remember feeling in months.

After another minute and a change of song, I spoke again. "We _should_ move here. We belong here."

Bella looked up at me, startled and hopeful, but cautious. "Really? How much have you had to drink?"

I nodded, grinning shamefacedly. "Some. Not too much. I know what I'm saying, I'm just sorry it took me so long to figure it out."

"But you have figured it out? You're sure? If you need more time to think it over—"

"I don't. I jumped in headfirst once before and it was the best decision of my life."

A rush of heat lit up her face. It seemed she would never stop blushing at the slightest hint of a compliment.

"Edward, I…me, too. I mean, I know it took me a little longer, but when I did finally jump—well, you know, you're the best thing that ever happened to me, too. _Arrgh!_ Just don't make me write my own wedding vows, okay?"

I had to laugh as I held her tight against me. "Deal."

"Oh, Edward! I can't believe it! You have no idea how happy you've made me—how happy we're both going to be here!" she kissed me hard and enthusiastically for only a moment before we were interrupted by Emmett clearing his throat loudly.

"Time for Alice and Jasper to throw the cake and cut the bouquet and all that crap," he said, waving vaguely at the dining tent.

"Oh, right." I scooped up my shoes and handed Bella hers before taking her hand and starting back with Emmett falling in step on my other side.

"So what was that about being happy here?" Emmett asked after a very short pause.

"Well…" I started.

"Um," Bella added.

"I knew it. You guys are moving here, too, aren't you?"

I glanced at Emmett regretfully. We had become close friends; I knew it was going to be almost as hard for me as it was for Bella to say goodbye to Emmett and Rosalie. "It looks that way."

"Damn." Emmett sped up a bit, but he looked back with a sort of pained smile before loping off to find Rose.

"That's going to be the hardest part," Bella sighed.

"I know. Why can't they just come, too?"

"Because they have careers out there. Emmett owns his own business." Bella sighed again, more heavily. "Because life just isn't perfect."

**Bella's POV**

The cake was cut without any cake-in-the-face smashing under threat of severe penalties from Alice. The bouquet was tossed, the garter was flung and soon after the fanfare surrounding Jasper and Alice's departure, the party began to dwindle down to the family. Carlisle and Esme excused themselves with hugs and handshakes all around, pleading exhaustion. Kate and Garrett had been among the first to disperse since they had to get EJ and Molly Kate home to bed. My mom and dad yawned unconvincingly and took off for their hotel in a mood I didn't want to contemplate.

So, in the end, it was Emmet and Rose, Edward and I, lounging exhausted but happy at a large round table. The clean-up crew was quickly and efficiently breaking everything down around us, so Edward suggested we adjourn poolside to soak our aching feet. He commandeered a stack of towels from the cabana and we spread them out along the edge of the pool. It took a little careful maneuvering to protect the wedding finery and avoid the bobbing, sputtering candles, but we finally were all settled with our grateful feet soaking in the tepid water.

"This was without a doubt, the most beautiful wedding ever in the history of the world," Rosalie said, only slurring slightly. "Until mine, of course!"

"Of course! It _was_ perfect, though, wasn't it? …They're really _married_." I said much louder than I had intended. "Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock… Alice Whitlock… That's weird."

"You're really _drunk_," Rosalie returned in the same tone. "And she said it's going to be Alice Brandon Whitlock. No hyphen, but keep the Brandon."

"We tried to keep the Brandon, but she moved to Hilton Head," I said, cracking myself up.

"Speaking of which, I think Bells and Ed have some news." Emmett spoke up for the first time.

I looked at Edward, not sure what to say. He hesitated for a moment and then shrugged and gave me a little grin, before looking apologetically at Rose. "We're moving here, too. I don't know how long it will take, but…"

Rosalie was quiet for a long pause, looking down into the pool at our faintly blue-looking feet. "You should have told Alice before they left. She just got everything she wanted."

"Almost," I agreed. "What's it going to take to get you two down here?"

Rosalie snorted inelegantly. "Right. I'll just quit my job and come down here to court skin cancer and collect seashells."

Despite her words, the look on her face gave her away. Rose was about to give into tears herself, which would be a first in my experience.

"I've got my company," Emmett shrugged. "I don't see any way I could walk away from that."

"What are you going to do, Bella?" Rosalie asked. "I mean, I assume Edward's coming home to work with Carlisle, but…"

"Well, I talked to Bruce a while back when I realized he hadn't found the location or the head chef he wanted for the new restaurant. I agreed to do something for him that I _really_ didn't want to do, if he would give me another three months to find a way to take it."

"What did you have to do?" Emmett asked waggling his goofy eyebrows at me.

"You'll all see it soon enough. It's going to be on national television," Edward interjected.

I laughed at the confused and intrigued expressions. "I served as sous chef for Bruce on _Iron__Chef__America_."

Rose's voice rose to a painfully high-pitch. "How could you not tell us, _tell__me_, something this huge?" she demanded.

"Because I was a nervous wreck already and you all would've driven me over the edge with advice and questions and suggestions. He's been trying to get me to do it for two years and I've never wanted to. I don't want to be a celebrity chef—cameras make me stupid."

"So how did you do?" Emmett demanded next. "Which Iron Chef did he challenge? Was it Bobby Flay? Cat Cora? It wasn't Morimoto, was it? Did you win?"

"It's on two weeks from Friday, you'll find out then." Before they could start bitching at me for not telling them, I went for the diversion. "So _anyway__…_I'm opening my own restaurant!"

"I can't believe this." The gloom on Emmett's face gave way to glee when he realized my dream of owning my own place was going to come true. Reaching around behind Rose, he gave my shoulder a squeeze. "I'm so happy for you, Bells."

After a gentle-ish nudge from Emmett, Rose added her congratulations. "I _am_ happy for you, too. I'm just…I'm going to miss you. I'm going to have to make all new friends. And I don't make friends that easily." She lowered her voice to a stage whisper. "Some people think I come across a little bitchy."

"Hey!" Edward exclaimed, interrupting me mid-laugh. "My dad said he's open to re-tooling Cullen Architects."

We all looked at him expectantly, wondering where that errant thought fit into the conversation.

"We can make our own rules, re-imagine the business."

"We?" Emmett asked, as Edward was staring right at him.

"Why not? What if instead of an architecture firm, we became a full-service project company? Everything from the blueprints to the construction to the design work? My dad and I, you, maybe even Jasper. And we'd need someone to oversee the financial end, Rosalie."

"Alice's degree is in interior and textile design," I offered. "She just kind of fell into the fashion buyer's position."

Emmett looked excited and doubtful at the same time. "I don't know, man. My company means the world to me…"

"You'd still be an owner—just part owner of a bigger concern!" Edward ran his hands over his face, his eyes glittering with the possibilities running through his head. "Holy shit! We could do this, Em! Rose? What do you think?"

She stared hard at Edward and then Emmett and finally at me, the wheels turning visibly behind her eyes. "I think it's been a very long day," she said. "And I think we've all had a lot to drink. Let's call it a night."

"Yeah," Emmett agreed, shaking his head as if he were shaking off a daydream. He stood and held out a hand to help Rosalie to her feet.

"Wait—" Edward started. He scrambled to his feet.

"Tomorrow," Emmett promised holding out his hand. I wasn't sure if he meant that Edward would see how impossible the idea was tomorrow or if he simply meant they would talk more about it tomorrow.

Edward shook hands and reluctantly allowed them to leave.

**Edward's POV**

It was almost three in the morning by the time we made our way upstairs to the guest room Mom had assigned us, correctly assuming we wouldn't enjoy the twin beds in my childhood room. I stripped out of my monkey suit and went into the bathroom for a quick shower. Bella declined to join me because she didn't want to get her hair wet and by the time I got out, she was buck naked and sound asleep stretched out on her stomach over the middle of the bed. I cut out the light and tried to slide in beside her, but she wouldn't budge. Even when I ran my fingers from the base of her neck all the down to her sweet little goose-bump-covered ass, she just murmured, snuggled up to her pillow and sighed deeply.

Realizing I wasn't going to get any sleep on the available sliver of bed, with naked Bella passed out beside me and my jumbled brain rolling like a rock tumbler, I pulled the covers up over her and went out on the balcony to stretch out on a chaise lounge.

It was still warm enough to lie there in just my boxer briefs. I folded my arms behind my head and looked up at the moon-bright sky, listening to the pound of the surf. I wasn't sorry for the decision I had made on the spur-of-the-moment to move back—to move home to Hilton Head. But the logistics of it were making my head spin. When should I tell Tom and how much notice should I give? Truth be told, there were no projects I was currently working on that would be painful to pass off to someone else.

No, working for Tom Francke had not turned out the way I had hoped. Not only had it not given me an opportunity to be creative and innovative, it had been painfully dull and proscribed. And now, on the heels on the vague feeling of failure that came with my decision to quit Francke & Associates, the idea of bringing Emmett's construction know-how, Jasper and Alice's combined design savvy, and Rosalie's financial acumen to Cullen Architects was opening up whole worlds of possibility. There were dozens upon dozens of details that would have to be figured out and even before all of that I would have to convince everyone that it could work, but I _wanted_ it. For no concrete reason that I could pinpoint, I _knew_ it would work and I _wanted_ it to happen.

The French door opened revealing Bella framed in the doorway, wrapped in the coverlet from the bed.

"What are you doing up?" I asked, holding my hand out to her.

"Dunno," she said. "I rolled over and you weren't there." She was still sleepy and seemingly a little drunk. Honestly, it was kind of adorable. And kind of hot, knowing that she was wearing exactly nothing under the blanket. She came to me and took my hand, using the other to clutch the blanket around her shoulders.

"You change your mind?" she asked.

I shook my head no.

"You want to change your mind?"

"No. It feels right. You and I here. Like that's how it was meant to be all along."

She nodded, a smug little smile tugging at her lips. She stepped over my lounge and straddled me covering us both with her blanket.

"Then why are you laying out here all alone and stressed out?"

"It's going to be tough, especially in the beginning if Emmett takes me up on my idea. You and I are both going to be starting new businesses at the same time. At a time when established businesses are closing left and right."

"It'll work out." She leaned down and kissed the corner of my mouth.

"We won't have much time together."

"We'll make time." Her hair brushed my chest as she moved to kiss the other side of my mouth.

"We won't have much money, at least to start with."

"We don't need much money." She kissed me lightly square on the lips.

I realized how things had changed between us. I was the one fighting my own doubts and she was acting on blind faith. It was my turn to trust in her—in us.

I lunged up at her, her blanket falling away. Finding myself face-to-glorious breasts, I took advantage and drew one into my mouth, taking the other in hand. She sighed heavily, ending with a low, quiet moan. Her hands were in my hair, holding my head at the angle she liked best. To steady herself, she squeezed her thighs alongside my hips. Before long she began to grind against my swollen cock. The moans of my pleasure vibrating against her sensitive nipples increased her pleasure and the volume of her cries.

"Shh," I reminded her. After all, my parents and her brother and Rose were relatively nearby.

"I don't like 'shh'" she muttered rebelliously. "I want to be loud. I want everyone to know what you do to me."

The surge of lust _that_ invoked in me took my breath away for a moment. This was a rare glimpse of Bella's wilder side. It mostly came out when she'd had a little more than usual to drink and she was already in a pretty happy frame of mind. Trouble was that she actually could and did get very loud at these times, and I was sure she would regret waking the house when she was sober and sitting across the breakfast table from my parents.

"No, no, no, sugar. If you can't behave I'll have to stop."

She made a noise indicating pure disbelief that I would dare stop no matter how loud she chose to get. Just to prove my seriousness, I laid down on the chaise, leaving her poised above me, calculating her next move.

She leaned forward and lowered her body over mine until one of her hardened little nipples was brushing my lips, slowly and deliberately. I took a deep breath and kept my resolve. I stared into her lust-darkened eyes, slipping my tongue out just enough to barely slicken the tight pink nub. Her eyes closed involuntarily for a moment and she made a sweet, soft little mewling sound.

"_There_ you go, sugar. That was nice and quiet. If you can stay nice and quiet like that, I'll do all kinds of nice things for you."

She narrowed her eyes at my playfully condescending tone. "Eat me."

"Okay!"

I stood up, lifting her with me and then lay her on her back on the lounge chair. I took her wrists in my hands and lifted her arms up over her head until her hands were dangling off the lounge above her. I motioned to her to keep them there and she nodded breathlessly. One thing I knew for a fact about my Bella—she loved when I went down on her, would get so worked up before it happened I barley had to touch her to set her off. Tonight, I took one of her silky smooth legs (courtesy of an all day spa experience for the women of the wedding party) and placed it over the arm of the chair, following suit with the other until she was spread out for me like a feast. I stripped off my boxers and knelt at the foot of the chaise, positioning my face just above her warm, slick sex before giving her one more warning.

"Nice and quiet, remember? I'd hate to have to stop before you get what you want."

"Just—unhh!" she started to reply, but forgot what she was going to say as I ran my tongue firmly between her lips. To her credit, I'll say that she tried to be quiet and managed fairly well apart from her heavy breathing and occasional low moans. Even when I finally zeroed in on her swollen clit and brought her right over the edge into orgasm, she controlled her volume.

It was when I moved up the chaise, taking her mouth with mine and entering her even as she continued to come that she forgot the quiet rule and I was too preoccupied to care. Fortunately the chair was a sturdy one because our joining was primal and fierce. I slammed into her and she wrapped her legs around me, digging her heels into my ass to urge me on. Her nails dug into my shoulders with a deliciously painful edge. I could feel the night breeze chilling my sweat-slicked skin and I knew I'd be freezing once the adrenaline wore off.

"Let me be on top," Bella ordered feverishly.

"No," I said breathlessly, nipping her earlobe hard. "I like it like this when I'm totally in control. Just lie back and enjoy it, sugar."

She moaned, possibly in protest, but it mutated into a strangled cry of release as she came apart again. I could feel the rhythmic pull of her muscles along my shaft and it sent me into overdrive, thrusting faster and forcefully until the transformative physical rush took me over. I collapsed on top of her, panting and grunting and cursing under my breath.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I registered a noise nearby. Suddenly I was alert, listening for what it might be and painfully aware of how loud we had been in the last fifteen minutes. There was nothing and then the a faint 'snick' that might have been one of two other balcony doors on the back of the house closing. After several minutes of quiet, I realized two things: Whether anyone heard us or not, there was nothing to be done about it now and Bella was sound asleep despite her awkward position and my heavy, sweaty body lying on top of her.

I got up and carried her inside, sliding her into bed and tucking us both in with the sheets and blankets. Too tired and sated to think anymore, I took a deep, shuddering breath and sank into oblivion.

The next morning, the smell of French toast and bacon woke me from a dead and dreamless sleep. Bella was nowhere to be found, so I automatically assumed she was responsible for the delicious smells coming from the kitchen. I threw on some jeans and a t-shirt and followed my nose.

_"…__serious__control__issues.__" _I recognized Rosalie's voice as I approached the kitchen.

"_I__swear__to__god__if__you__don__'__t__shut__up__Rose!__"_ Bella retorted, followed by Rose's evil cackle.

"Edward!" Rosalie cried, grinning from ear to ear when I walked into the room.

Bella's face was lit up and she barely glanced at me before returning her concentration to the French toast.

"I wasn't expecting to see all of you this bright and early." Dad's arrival prevented me from asking questions.

"Bella's making breakfast," Rosalie volunteered. "She's just full of energy this morning. For some reason."

With a sinking feeling, I remembered the moment the night before that I thought I had heard something on one of the other balconies. My dad is neither stupid nor so naïve that he would miss the less-than-subtle innuendo, but aside from a brief glance in my direction, he ignored it.

Dad started getting dishes and utensils out and passing them to me for setting the table. Rosalie got out serving dishes and filled them with food as Bella cooked it. Mom joined us, seeming pleased, but a little flustered with nothing to do but sit and eat.

"Where's Emmett?" Mom asked Rosalie as we all took a seat at the table.

Rose shrugged nonchalantly, pausing to swallow a bite of strawberry before she answered. "Oh, he'll be along."

The conversation turned to the wedding and reception the night before and then our plans for the last few days we had before we had to head back to Seattle.

"We have something important we want to tell you," Bella said at her first opportunity.

"You're pregnant!" Mom cried.

"No! God, no!" Bella said.

"Maybe," Rosalie contradicted with another evil grin. She had definitely overheard us the night before.

"No!" Bella said again and more loudly. "Edward?" She turned to me imploringly.

"We're moving back, moving here, I mean. We're moving home."

The look on my dad's face meant more to me than even my mom's squeals of joy and bone-crushing hugs. Bella told them about her restaurant plans and I gave them a brief sketch of my idea for Cullen Architects. Dad seemed intrigued, yet skeptical. I understood it, but my conviction of the night before had not changed. I knew it would work.

Emmett finally showed up and ate his late breakfast as the rest of us cleared the table and did the dishes. From his calm easy-going demeanor I guessed that _he_ had not heard Bella and I the night before and for that I was grateful. No doubt he would have been grateful too if he had known what he missed.

Bella and Rosalie had shooed Mom and Dad out of the kitchen and were working together to load the dishwasher. I could hear Rose singing something quietly under her breath, but I didn't think anything of it until Bella snapped at her.

"Rose, quit it!"

"What's the problem?" Emmett asked.

"Nothing," Rose said cheerfully and went back to her singing.

When I crossed the room behind her, I caught on. She was singing the refrain of an Annie Lennox song from the 80s: "You can fool with your brother, but don't mess with a missionary man…don't mess with a missionary man."

"Nice ass, by the way," she said, interrupting her serenade to Bella as I left the room.

It was at that point that I realized Rosalie hadn't just heard us. From her vantage point on the other balcony, she had gotten an eyeful. The old saying 'Be careful what you wish for' popped into my head as I contemplated what working with and living in close proximity to all of our close friends and family would really be like.

**Reviews are not required or expected, but they make me happy like Christmas morning, so…**


	34. Chapter 34 The Iron Chef

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter 34**

**The Iron Chef**

**Bella's POV**

The rain that had been steadily drizzling over the city all day turned into a genuine deluge about the time I got off work. Being a child of the Pacific Northwest, I usually kept a sturdy umbrella and a rain jacket with me, but this June storm had caught me off guard. By the time I got to my car, I was soaked to the skin. Fifteen minutes later I pulled into my garage anxious to get a hot shower, change into warm, dry pajamas and cuddle up with Edward.

Instead, I found an informal party going on in my living room.

"Okay, I'm going to play it again, but this time everyone takes a drink every time Bella blushes!" As I walked into the living room I saw Emmett grab the remote and hit replay on the DVR.

"What are you all doing?"

"Bella! Bella's home!" Edward jumped up from his position on the floor and ran over to grab me in a big bear hug. "You're all wet."

"I'm aware. What's going on?"

"We've been playing drinking games while watching your _Iron__Chef_," he explained. "Last one was…let me think…it was take a drink every time someone said 'fillet'."

The theme music began and Alton Brown's voiceover announced the beginning of _Iron__Chef__America_.

"And this time we're going to drink whenever the camera pans to you and you blush," Rosalie added helpfully.

"That's not blushing, I'm just flushed from standing over the hot stove and stuff."

Emmett hit the fast forward and then stopped, pointing at the screen. "Right. You're hot from standing over that fish in the tub of ice."

On the screen I was quickly and methodically gilling, gutting and filleting several large Wild Sockeye Salmon which were the secret ingredient of the battle. The camera was focused on my hands and then panned out to my face as Alton Brown commented on how fast and thorough a job I was doing. And yes, I was blushing like mad.

"Y'all leave her alone. You did fantastic, Bells!" Jasper's voice came from the speakerphone on the end table.

"You rocked it, Isabella Swan, sous chef extraordinaire!" Alice added. "I can't believe you beat Mike Symon!"

"Bruce beat him. And only by one point," I said, blushing once again.

"The way you handled those fish was both terrifying and totally _hot_," said Edward.

"I can't believe you all watched it without me."

"I can't believe you made salmon sorbet and the judges _liked_ it," Rosalie laughed.

"It was good. The Meyer lemon and fresh basil leaves gave it a little zing."

"Remind me not to ask you to bring dessert to…anything. However, I wouldn't say no to that salmon pastry thingie with the remoulade sauce."

"_Anyway_," I said pointedly. "Alice, how are you doing?"

"Oh, swollen and irritable, thanks. And these drinking games aren't as fun with apple juice."

"Jasper? How is she doing?"

Jasper's deep chuckle was followed by, "Gorgeous, glowing and horny, actually."

Which was then followed by Alice's shriek and the sound of Jasper being pummeled.

"We're definitely not staying with them when we get down there. We need to find a house," I told Edward.

"Oh believe me, Mom is scouting out everything available from outhouses to twelve room mansions. She'll find us a house," Edward assured me.

Edward and I were in the process of wrapping up our commitments to Francke & Associates and Beck's respectively before we could make the move to Hilton Head. Our house had been on the market for three weeks and we had an Open House scheduled for Saturday. We were doing what house hunting we could do online when we could find a little time, but Esme was treating the project like her full-time job upon which the fate of the free world rested. We just wanted a reasonable place to rent until our house sold and we were somewhat settled in our new jobs. Both Esme and Carlisle and Jasper and Alice had offered to have us stay with them if we didn't have a place lined up before we had to be on the Island, but as much as I loved them all, I prayed we'd have our own place. We had to be there by July 1, less than three weeks away.

My head began to swim as I thought of it all and I was suddenly unbearably sleepy. Lately, whenever the stress and uncertainty and the sheer number of things that needed to get done in too short a time got to me, I was overcome by the irresistible urge to sleep. I was beginning to wonder if I had developed an acute case of narcolepsy.

The scariest thing was that the move was only the tip of the iceberg. Once we got down there, I was scheduled to start interviewing kitchen staff on July 6th, followed by front-of-the-house staff on July 8th in preparation for a grand opening on August 1st. Bruce had decided to go with renovating an existing building and since he was putting up the money, I couldn't have objected even if I wanted to. Plus, he hired Cullen Projects for the renovation. My world was feeling smaller and more semi-incestuous by the day, but I was pretty thrilled that Edward and I would be working so closely together for the first month or two in Hilton Head since that was probably the only way we were going to see each other. And also, I was thrilled that I would get everything I wanted, just the way I wanted it. It pays to sleep with your architect/project manager.

In the weeks since we had returned from Alice and Jasper's wedding, Edward had managed to thoroughly convince Carlisle and Emmett of his plan to create a full-service project company. Carlisle had already registered the new name of the firm and begun the process of changing signage and paperwork. Emmett was interviewing key members of his crew to see who would be willing to relocate as well as figuring out what equipment he could have transported across country and what would make more sense to liquidate and replace.

Rosalie had not been as sure about joining the company. She had surprised me agreeing to the move pretty quickly. She said she was ready for a change—and of course, that was the only thing that had been holding Emmett back at all. Once he got the go-ahead from Rose, he was in full-steam ahead mode. She seemed worried, though. I assumed that quitting a lucrative job with room to move up for an uncertain future went against everything she had ever believed in. Secretly, I wondered if she really didn't think Cullen Projects would make it and didn't want to be onboard a sinking ship.

And then one night the four of us had met for dinner at Emmett's favorite Mexican restaurant. Rosalie had begun methodically shredding her straw wrapper as soon as we sat down. Her uncharacteristic nervousness had clued Edward in right away that she had something uncomfortable to talk about.

"Something up, Rose?" I asked her, indicating the mess she was making of the table top.

She quickly scooped up the mess and deposited it in her napkin which she shoved off to the side.

"I think I'm going to be offered a job at a stock brokerage firm on the Island. I had a phone interview last week and a teleconference call this morning. If they offer it, I think I should take it."

It was quiet for a moment and then Edward reached across the table to clasp her hand. "Congratulations, really. I'm happy for you."

"Well, yeah. Me, too, but what about Cullen Projects?" Emmett was apparently hearing about this for the first time as well.

She took a deep breath. "Here's what scares me; if we all are essentially dependent on one company and it goes through some growing pains, which it's bound to do or if it somehow doesn't work out…"

"It's going to work, Rosie. I know it," Emmett said.

"The thing is…" She frowned at her hands which were grasping the edge of the table in front of her. "The thing is you can't know that. It's a tough time to start a new venture or radically change an existing one and between Bella's restaurant and Cullen Projects, we are doing both. I just wonder if I shouldn't take a…safer position, so that if the worst happens, we have some steady income coming in."

Edward leaned across the table and started to say something but she cut him off.

"Wait. I don't mean just for me and Emmett. If things got hard, I could—I mean, I don't make millions or anything, but I could help keep us, people, I mean, or at least…argh! Why is this so uncomfortable to talk about?"

"You're offering to help the company out financially if times get tough?" Edward asked.

"Basically, yes." Rosalie took a big gulp of her iced tea and choked on it as it went down the wrong pipe.

I looked at Emmett and he was looking back at me, clearly astonished. He turned to Rosalie, engulfing her in a hug that threatened to cut off her air supply all together. He hastily let up and patted her back helpfully until she stopped coughing and gasping for breath.

"Rosalie Hale, that's the most…I can't believe you would… Damn woman! How soon can I marry you?"

And then an amazing thing happened. One I never thought I would see. Rosalie Lillian Hale blushed. And not just a little; a full-on face, ears and neck conflagration. And because I was overwhelmed by her generosity and how completely uncomfortable she was being praised for it, I let it go. One glance at Edward told me he saw and was keeping quiet about it, too.

"I don't want you guys to think I don't want to be a part of all this, because I do, but I think maybe this is the best way for me to be a part of it for now."

Three weeks later, against all odds, we were all packed and in the process of driving across country. Movers had come and loaded up a semi between our house, and Emmett's and Rosalie's apartments to deliver in Hilton Head three days after we were scheduled to arrive. Emmett sold his car which he would replace once we arrived and Edward's car was being hauled by the moving company, so we had Rosalie's BMW and my Volvo to drive ourselves.

Taking turns driving and riding in both cars, we had a lot of fun on the trip. I'm not always the best traveler—I get anxious, I think of all the things that could go wrong—but this time whenever I started that stuff I reminded myself this may be the last time we have a chance to do something like this. Soon we would all be immersed in work, getting married, maybe starting families. When would find the time for a leisurely four day drive across the country again?

The third day after a quick "Continental" breakfast at yet another Country Inn & Suites, Rosalie and I chose to ride together and send the men off in my car.

"I can't stomach the smell of beef jerky anymore," I told Edward. "I love you, but that stuff is banned from here on out if I'm in the car. And you're going to have my Volvo cleaned when we get there."

"Right. And the noxious fumes from you removing your toenail polish was pleasant for me?"

"Touché." I had to laugh. "See you in Kentucky."

Around ten we had our daily morning phone conversation with Alice. She was bummed about missing out on the road trip, so she called every day at 10 am and 4 pm—and anytime a random thought popped into her head—just to feel like a part of things.

"I can't believe by tomorrow we'll be in Hilton Head. For good," Rosalie said with a big sigh right after she hung up with Alice.

"Are you regretting your decision?" I asked.

She eased her seat back and propped her bare feet on the dashboard. "Not even a little bit. You guys are real family for me, like I never had. I don't think you all realize how rare that is. Your parents all being together and being happy must've made you expect that." She snorted. "I grew up with just my mom and since she remarried what's-his-name and started a new family…" she shrugged. "And I haven't seen my dad since I was fourteen. It's not like he was abusive or anything, he just didn't care to make the effort to see me."

I realized I was holding my breath for fear of breaking whatever spell was causing Rosalie to open up to me like this. I felt oddly…honored. Forcing myself to take a breath as inconspicuously as possible, while restraining myself from making any gesture of pity, I just listened.

"I feel like I'm ending up with more out of life than I ever expected. It's not that I never expected to find real love and real friendship—it's that I never had any reason to believe it existed."

Rose fell into sudden and complete silence. I think she was more surprised than I was at her uncharacteristic sentimentality.

The moment passed when my Volvo flew by us with Emmett's butt cheeks pressed against the passenger side windows.

"Forget what I just said. I must be insane."

_**Six weeks later…**_

**Edward's POV**

Since the day we crossed the bridge onto the Island, life had whipped into fast-forward. It felt like Bella had walked into her new restaurant and not yet fully-emerged. Her every waking moment was spent thinking, planning or doing something in or for the restaurant. Even when she tried to turn it off, I knew a part of her brain was still at Isabella's on the Cove. I might have felt slighted if I weren't just as consumed with promoting and running Cullen Projects, but I was looking forward to time when we had more time and attention for one another. Maybe enough time to plan a wedding.

These days it was rare that either of us got home on time, much less both of us. So when she pulled into the garage of our rented house moments after I got out of my car, I couldn't stop the big grin that spread across my face.

She hopped out of her Volvo and wrapped her arms around my waist. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you, mister."

"I have some idea. I've missed you, sugar."

She laughed as she pulled away and we went inside the house. "You just saw me this morning."

"In passing, as I got out of the shower and you left for work. Not good enough." I followed her through the house to our room.

"No." She agreed with a sweet smile. I tried to pull her to me again, but she held me off. "Let me get a quick shower. I reek of food and I feel disgusting."

"You don't smell and you look far from disgusting."

"You say the sweetest things." She rolled her eyes and continued to evade my embrace.

I sat down on the corner chair and pulled my shoes and socks off. "Tell me about your day ."

Bella was removing her jewelry. I wondered if it was weird that the way she tilted her head to remove her earrings turned me on. "Well, on the positive side, the GM I hired is a godsend. She's got the front of the house working like a well-oiled machine. On the other hand, the kitchen is a mess. I've got a female pastry chef apparently determined to sleep her way through the entire kitchen staff, a bunch of Southern boys determined to polite me to death without actually doing anything I say, and a seafood supplier who consistently substitutes inferior product for what I ordered and thinks I won't notice. In short, I'm losing my mind. How was your day?"

"Better than yours, I'd have to say. We met with the planning committee for the new Civic Center they're trying to get funded in Beaufort. I think we have a good shot at it."

"I'd bet money on you," she said.

"So what's the deal with your pastry chef? "

"Oh, that. Well, that's not that big of an issue for the moment. Her name is Jessica and she's a really talented pastry chef, but we've only been working together as a staff for a month and as far as I can tell, she's already slept with three of the guys."

"Do you have a policy against employee fraternization?" I started on the buttons of my shirt while trying to ignore the fact the Bella was stripping off her clothes.

"Are you kidding me? In a restaurant? That would be like telling soap opera characters not to hook up with each other. No, as long as it doesn't affect the restaurant I don't care what any of them do on their own time. I just have a bad feeling that her extracurriculars will affect my restaurant eventually."

"No sense borrowing trouble. Deal with it if it happens."

"Uh-huh," she said skeptically. "Sometimes it's good to be prepared, though. You can't always stick your head in the sand and hope for the best." She paused in the bathroom doorway.

I took off my watch, followed by my dress shirt and pants, which I started to throw across the foot of the bed. One eyebrow raise from Bella and I changed course with a small sigh to drop them in the hamper. "And the problem with your kitchen staff? The men, I mean. Do I need to come down there and start knocking heads?"

She snorted at that, bruising my ego just a little. "No, nothing like that. It'll just take some time to establish my authority. I've been through it before." She stepped into the bathroom and started the water before sticking her head out again. "I almost prefer open hostility to the kind of civil disobedience these guys are practicing, though. They're all 'yes, ma'am' this 'no, ma'am' that. I can't even get them to consistently call me Chef. One guy keeps calling me _Miss__Bella_."

I stifled a laugh at that. "I'm sure he's just trying to be respectful."

"No. No, he's really not. Doing it once might have been an attempt to be respectful, but continuing to do it after I asked him to call me Chef or Bella, is actually pretty rude. And one misogynist is all it takes to set a tone for the whole kitchen questioning my ability to run a restaurant because I'm a girl." She was stripping out of her work clothes before getting in the shower. I knew from experience that she wouldn't be having any groping or fondling until she had showered the food smell off of her. Personally, I wasn't that picky, but I forced myself to turn away and get some jeans out of the closet, while I listened. We were due at Alice and Jasper's house for pizza and cards in about an hour.

"I'm going to have to fire someone just to prove I can and then make some very strict rules for the kitchen until they prove I can rely on them."

"I could come down there a few times, just to back you up," I offered.

"Back me up how?" she asked with a laugh.

"I mean, you know, like you said sometimes guys don't take a woman as seriously at first."

"And having my boyfriend hang around glaring at them would make them take me seriously? Are _you_ serious?"

"I don't know. I'm just trying to help."

"I don't need your help, I was just telling you about my day."

A little belatedly I realized that she was getting angry for real. "Calm down, sugar. I didn't mean anything. It's just automatic to want to find a way to help when you're having a hard time."

She was standing in the doorway to the bathroom in just her panties and bra, the steam beginning to roll out of the bathroom. The war in my brain was between lust and irritation and lust was winning. I really didn't see what she was getting all heated for. If she didn't want me to help I wouldn't, but what was wrong with offering?

"Don't you think I handled stuff like this before you came along? Do you not think I can do it on my own?"

"Of course I do. I'm sorry I said anything. You just go right ahead and handle it and I won't say a word," I said. I was grinning in spite of myself because she looked so cute when she was mad. I held my hands up in mock surrender and took a couple steps toward her.

I saw her roll her eyes at me, just before she shut the bathroom door and locked it. A second later I heard the water come on in the shower.

Okay, so I had gone wrong there. I knew she would come tell me exactly how I had gone wrong when she was ready, so I didn't try to overthink it.

**Bella's POV**

Hot water beating down on my shoulders usually helped ease the tense muscles and petty aggravations of the day. Tonight, I wasn't feeling it. The more I thought about Edward's off-handed advice and offers to come down to my restaurant to make the boys take me seriously, the more tense and aggravated I became. I tried to parse out why I was having such a strong reaction. It wasn't like Edward's occasional flashes of semi-primitive ideas of male/female roles were new to me. They weren't even entirely unwelcome. Sometimes it was nice to be taken care of. But sometimes it really frosted my ass.

Maybe it was bothering me more now because in the last month I had become very dependent on Edward, something I wasn't entirely comfortable with. My whole life as I had known it changed when we moved. Suddenly, there was no usual for me. Everything was new—even simple things like my bank, my grocery store, the place I worked—all brand-new and still somewhat alien. And honestly, the weight of being the boss in my own restaurant, being responsible for every part of the operation—it was weighing heavily on me. Self-doubt like I had never known was lurking in the corners of my mind, just waiting to pounce.

Understandably, Alice was focused on impending motherhood and I didn't want to take away any part of her happiness with my creeping fears and petty irritations. Rosalie and I were closer than we had ever been and yet talking to her about problems was a lot like talking to a man—she wanted to fix the problem or she didn't want to be bothered with it. Besides, Emmett and Rose were having their own adjustment issues with having moved across country, both starting new jobs and living together officially for the first time.

So Edward was really my one and only constant and I found myself relying on him more than I had ever relied on anyone. The problem with that is that when your constant is being a bit of a jackass, it makes your whole world feel off-kilter. So maybe I was over-reacting. Maybe.

When I stepped out of the shower, I heard a baseball game in progress on the TV in the living room and Edward was nowhere in sight. I was working myself up to apologize and explain what had made me mad (since I was sure he had little or no idea), while I got dressed.

The phone rang and I automatically starting hurrying, sure that it was Alice calling to demand where we were and why we weren't at her house.

"Bella!" Edward yelled from the living room.

"I know, I know! Tell her to keep her stretchy maternity pants on, we're coming!"

He was suddenly in the doorway, a goofy smile on his face and his eyes bright with excitement. "Change of plans, sugar. We're going to meet them at the hospital. It's time."

**Reviews are not required or expected, but they make me want to add more outtakes, so…**


	35. Chapter 35 Babies, Babes & Bribes

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

**Chapter 35**

**Babies, Babes & Bribes**

"Oh my god, Edward. Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?" Bella looked up at me with her luminous brown eyes shining. In her arms she cradled Delilah Isabella Brandon-Whitlock who seemed to be sound asleep and nuzzling Bella's arm at the same time. Every time she made the slightest noise or the tiniest movement, Bella gave out a soft, wondering little, "Oh!"

"No," I said with perfect honesty. "I've never seen anything more beautiful in my life." And I was talking about Delilah, but I was also talking about Bella. She looked so right, so utterly right, holding that baby that I couldn't help thinking about the day she would be holding our baby.

Bella broke into my reverie with a much more down-to-earth tone this time. "Slow your roll there, cowboy. I know what you're thinking." She tried to be severe, but a big grin lit up her face. I just smiled back, so hard I could feel the muscles in my cheeks.

"Excuse me, but can I have my baby back?" Alice asked from the hospital bed. She looked exhausted, deathly pale and quite sweaty, but thoroughly pleased with herself. Jasper took Delilah from Bella and handed her to Alice as if the baby were a bomb set to go off any moment. Jasper was not quite as calm and steady as his usual self.

Alice's labor had gone on for hours, through the night, most of the day and into the late afternoon of the next day. Since they already knew the baby was pretty good-sized—8 pounds and 11 ounces when all was said and done—they ultimately decided she needed an emergency C-section. As the doctor had explained this to Jasper, his eyes had grown wider and wider.

"What's a C-section?" Emmett had asked. Rosalie took him aside and talked to him quietly as the doctor continued to speak to Alice and Jasper. When Rose made a slicing motion across her lower abdomen with her hand, Emmett had blanched and paled.

"I think we should go and give you some privacy. We'll be in the waiting room." Rosalie had taken Emmett by the hand and led him from the room, his stricken expression doing nothing to calm Jasper's rattled nerves.

"Actually, we're going to ask everyone but the father to leave. And Daddy, we need to get you into some scrubs and a mask while we move Mommy to the O.R." The nurse smiled jovially at Jasper.

Kate and Garrett and the kids were planning to drive over the next morning, but Mom, Dad, Emmett, Rose, Bella and I settled in to wait in a tastefully bland holding pen with uncomfortable chairs and a TV mounted on the wall. Emmett was hoping to find a baseball game, but when he approached the TV, he got stared down by a nine-year-old watching a rerun of Spongebob on Nickelodeon.

Barely fifteen minutes later, Jasper came to tell us that he had a healthy baby girl and Alice was doing great. He promised to come get us when they were ready for visitors.

Mom and Dad and Emmett and Rose had gotten to hold and coo over little Delilah and then had left to have dinner with promises to come back the next day. Bella and I were having a little more trouble tearing ourselves away.

Jasper still seemed to be in a semi-catatonic state of shock. Since the announcement of the birth, he'd barely said a handful of words, but he kept his gaze steadily vacillating between Alice and Delilah. When Alice grimaced in discomfort as she tried to find a comfortable position for herself and Delilah, he hovered as if he desperately wanted to do _something_ to help.

Alice patted his hand. "I'm okay. I just need to try to feed her again before I crash."

She started to open her hospital gown and Jasper and I both flipped out a little, saying, "Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

"Oh please," Alice scoffed. She pointed a finger at Jasper. "_You_ better get used it. I'll be discreet, but I am not going to run off and hide whenever Delilah needs to nurse." She turned on me. "And same goes for you; Either get used to it or excuse yourself from the room. You're a lot more mobile than I am at the moment."

We both mumbled apologies, but Bella came to my rescue. "We should give you guys some time alone with you beautiful baby girl, anyway," she said. "But we'll be back tomorrow. Call me if I can bring anything to you." She leaned down and kissed Alice on the cheek and then gave Jasper a quick hug.

"Food," Jasper said. "Can you guys bring me some food? I missed dinner and I'm starving."

"I feel so bad for you," Alice said, rolling her eyes. "I missed dinner, too, you know. Plus, I can't eat until tomorrow morning _and_ I made a person!"

"I helped," Jasper teased, sounding like himself at last.

"Yeah, yeah. Next time I want your part in this process." But she smiled at him like he hung the moon and the stars.

Bella and I left, promising Jasper some food tonight and Alice something special in the morning.

We ran into my dad and mom coming out of the elevator carrying a takeout container. They had already thought to bring Jasper food from the restaurant where they had dinner.

"You might want to call Jasper and give him that in the waiting room," I suggested. "Alice is feeling a little . . ."

"Say no more," my dad said with a knowing look at my mother.

"Good night, kids." My mom hugged and kissed us both on the cheek.

Once in the elevator, Bella wrapped her arms around my waist and laid her head against my chest, right over my heart. I was lost in my fantasies of Bella pregnant with our baby when she said, "That was scary."

"Scary?"

"_Yes_, scary. Alice was in so much pain and then that big ass needle they did the epidural with and then she had to have _surgery_? That was terrifying. I mean it all worked out in the long run, but . . ." She shuddered and huddled closer to me.

"Well . . . but, it was all worth it, right? I mean, when you were holding Delilah you seemed to think so."

"Yes. She's beautiful and perfect and I'm sure it was all worth it, but that doesn't change the fact that I am buying a steel reinforced chastity belt first thing in the morning." I could feel her laughing against me.

"Well, I guess that gives me tonight to get in my . . . licks."

"Edward!" She smacked my chest just as the elevator doors opened and we had to step out to make room for people waiting to get on.

I wasn't kidding, but we had missed dinner, too, so we decided stop at the Sunset Grille for dinner before heading home. Since we'd moved to the island, Bella had become good friends with Leah, the general manager and Jake's roommate. She was greeted warmly and shown to a great table with me trailing behind.

"What am I, chopped liver?" I asked, earning a quick hug from Leah.

"No, but you may be dead meat soon," she murmured.

"Huh?"

Leah gestured across the busy restaurant as she placed our menus on the table. It took me a minute to register what she was pointing to—or rather _who_ she was pointing at.

"Oh, holy hell," I said, immediately wishing I'd kept my mouth shut.

"What is it?" Bella asked, looking around.

"Um, I know you're getting sick of this," I said.

Bella squinted at me for a moment and then realization dawned on her and she rolled her eyes. "Ex-girlfriend?"

"Sort of."

Leah snorted and then apologized. "It's just funny to see Edward paying for his wayward past. But I'm sorry it bugs you, Bella."

Bella waved it away. "It doesn't bother me. He dealt with enough of my baggage while we were in Seattle."

"Uh-oh. Incoming. I'll go get you some biscuits." With that Leah was gone and in her place stood Tammy Lee Watson in all her bleached blonde, big-boobed glory.

"Why Edward Anthony Cullen, as I live and breathe," she said, laying on her thickest Southern accent.

"Tammy. How are you?" I stood and gave her the briefest possible hug before I sat back down.

"Oh, I'm just wonderful. Like always. Who's your little friend?" She turned her over-whitened mega-watt smile on Bella. Bella gave a slight roll of the eyes and plastered on a smile.

"This is my fiancée, Bella Swan. Bella, this is Tammy Lee Watson." I tried to put a subtle emphasis on the word fiancée, but Tammy skipped right over it before Bella could say a word.

"Oh yes, you're the cook at that new place. Isabella's, right? Must keep you awfully busy."

"I'm the head chef and part owner of Isabella's, yes." Bella gave Tammy the fakest smile I'd ever seen on her.

"My, my. Very busy, I'm sure." Tammy turned her attention back to me and everything she was hinting was spelled out across her face and her body.

"And what do you do, Tammy Sue?" Bella asked.

"Lee."

"Pardon? You lee for a living?"

"My name is Tammy _Lee_. I hostess for a living. I'm the new hostess here, actually."

"Great," I said, holding back a sigh. Bella loved coming here on our rare nights off together. Or at least she had until now.

Leah arrived at that moment with a basket of biscuits for our table and glass of the house white for each of us. "Tammy Lee, you're needed at the hostess desk, please."

"Of course. Nice seeing you, Edward. And nice to meet you, um, Ella." The attempt at return insult was so pathetically delivered that Bella hid her face behind her napkin to giggle quietly.

"Sorry about that. I was going to warn you next time I saw you, but . . ." Leah shrugged. "She's quite good at her job and a pretty decent person to talk to when there are no men around."

"No problem," Bella assured her. "Can you have the waitress bring us two of the shrimp and grits, please?"

After Leah walked away to deliver the order to our server, I tried to gauge Bella's level of irritation. "Well, that was presumptuous. How do you know I want shrimp and grits tonight?"

"I don't, but I know if I get it and you don't, you'll eat half of mine." She took a deliberate bite out of her biscuit and met my eyes with a steady gaze.

"You're mad."

"No," she sighed. "Well, I'm mad at myself. I acted ridiculous to that woman. I hate when I get jealous."

"I don't hate it," I said cautiously. "I mean, it's kind of nice to know I'm not the only one who acts like an—gets jealous."

"Nice save." She smirked at me.

Not that I would've blamed her if she had been angry, at least a little bit. In the short time we had been back on the island, Bella had met no less than five—six, now, counting Tammy Lee—of the skeletons in my closet. I couldn't exactly call most of them girlfriends. The only one she liked was Christie. Come to think of it, Christie was the only one I had really liked, too. I hadn't taken the time to know enough about the others to like them or not.

"It doesn't matter," Bella assured me. She placed her hand over mine. "I meant it when I said you put up with a lot more for me. We're good."

"We are? You seemed pretty mad at me last night before we left for the hospital."

Bella looked out over the lights reflecting on the cove before cutting her eyes back at me. "Yeah, you were being a little cave manny, again. But I know you mean well."

"I do, I really, really do." I batted my eyelashes at her and she laughed.

"Just so you know, though, if you ever turn up at Isabella's to 'intimidate the guys for me' I will castrate you in front of them." She made a motion like grabbing a pair of balls and snipping them off.

"Ah. Well, that would probably get them in line."

"I love you, you cave man." She leaned across the table to kiss me lightly on the lips.

"I love you, too, you scary, scary woman."

**Bella's POV**

"Will you have my baby?" Edward asked.

"Yes…"

"Soon?"

"I … Edward—"

"I want to marry you, Bella. I want to have babies with you. I want everything."

"So do I—"

"Soon, Bella? Very soon?"

"Ungh. Edward?"

"What?"

"If you could just shut up for a minute, I'll come." It was a line from a pretty bad 80's movie with Molly Ringwald and Robert Downey Jr., but it fit the moment. The moment was Edward lying on our bed buck naked, sweaty and gorgeous, eyes glassy with lust and intention, with me riding him insanely. Hopefully, I'd still be able to walk tomorrow because I had to get back to work.

And this is when Edward decided we should settle the baby question. Not that I didn't find Edward begging me to have his child a turn on, but I wasn't in any mental condition to hammer out the details.

"Aw, sorry sugar." He smiled up at me wickedly, grasping my hips harder and thrusting up to meet me. "Am I distracting you?"

If I could've stopped then, I would've just to punish him, but there was no way in hell that was going to happen. Instead I closed my eyes, shutting out everything but the physical sensations building within me.

Suddenly, Edward was rolling us both, pinning me beneath him. "Look at me, sugar," he demanded, putting his hand under my knee and pulling my leg up over his shoulder. "Please."

I tried to keep my eyes shut to punish him, but the magnetic force of him made it impossible. As soon as our eyes met, he smiled and my heart jumped in my chest. Sometimes it happened this way, the strength of the love I felt for him hit me so hard it took my breath away. I mean, I knew I loved him every day. Even when I was so mad I wanted to smack him one, I knew I loved him. But these moments, sometimes sexual, sometimes just coming out of nowhere, were so overwhelmingly fierce they brought tears to my eyes. And that's what happened this time.

Edward's eyebrows creased in concern and he stilled within me. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" I assured him quickly, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him down to kiss me. "I just love you so much."

He started moving again, gently insistent, building the fire back within me. "Then marry me."

"Yes."

"When?"

"Huh?" I was having trouble concentrating on anything but my impending implosion.

"You give me a date, I give you an orgasm. That's the deal."

I started to laugh, but my breath caught as he stepped up his game. "A date," he repeated.

"Anytime. I'll marry you tomorrow." I meant it. I didn't care anything about a big elaborate wedding. All I needed was a chance to say "I do" and officially join myself to him forever.

We didn't talk anymore as the rush of emotion and physical sensation took over. When finally we lay comfortably boneless and sated, I thought over the date question a little more.

"I meant it, Edward. I'd marry you tomorrow. When do you want to do it?"

He pulled me close, resting my head on his chest. "I think Mom would kill us if we ran off to the courthouse, but I don't too much want a big production. Something simple. And something very soon."

"Labor Day weekend!" It hit me suddenly. "It'll be the anniversary of the when we met, when you so rudely felt me up in your bed."

"You were into it," Edward said, drawing lazy circles on my lower back.

"I'm not even going to try to pretend I wasn't." I pushed up on my elbows so I could look into his jewel-green eyes. "Seriously, Edward, it would be perfect. This has been hands-down, the most amazing, wonderful, scary . . . crazy year of my life. My world has changed in almost every way."

"In good ways, I hope."

"In the best ways. I'm happy. I love you. I love my restaurant. I love being here with all our friends. The only thing left is to marry you."

"And have my babies."

"Babies? We were talking about _a_ baby."

"Babies are like chips, you can't have just one." I rolled my eyes and he laughed, shaking us both.

Twenty minutes later we were half-dressed—Edward wore his pajama bottoms and I wore one of his t-shirts and my panties—and sitting on the couch eating a big bowl of butter pecan ice cream with two spoons.

"You do realize that Labor Day is barely a month away," Edward said.

"Alice is going to kill me. She won't have time to lose all the baby weight."

"My mom is going to kill me. She'll go into full-on planning hysteria and stay that way until the day after the wedding."

We ate in contemplative silence.

"We're going to do it anyway, right?"

I grinned at him, offering my spoonful of ice cream up to him. "Hell yeah, sugar."

**One Month Later**

"I can't believe we pulled this off," Edward whispered in my ear.

It was just after sunset and we were officially Edward and Bella Cullen. Etta James's _At__Last_ played on the sound system, drifting from the patio to the beach below Esme and Carlisle's house. We danced, me in a simple knee-length white sheath and bare feet, Edward in charcoal gray linen pants and a white dress shirt open at the throat, also barefoot. Alice had pinned my hair up in a loose, romantic style, pinning it with small white flowers twined around bobby pins.

There were less than fifty people in attendance, which was more than we originally wanted. At first we were only going to have our families, but in the end we were glad for everyone we included. Most of them were dancing in pairs around us, Leah and her boyfriend, Jake and Edward's cousin Bree, while others mingled on the patio, helping themselves to the buffet provided in a joint effort by my restaurant and Esme.

We had hired a bartender and had a florist decorate the patio, but everything else we or someone in our family had done. The result was perfect. Edward and I had greeted guests as they arrived, mixing and mingling and making sure everyone got a glass of champagne. As soon as the sun began to set, we asked everyone to walk down to the beach with us where Edward's family's pastor performed the traditional Methodist wedding ceremony as they all stood around us, champagne flutes in hand. At the moment Pastor Benefield pronounced us man and wife, Jasper offered a toast and everyone raised their glasses to us as we kissed.

As the last glowing layers of day sunk into the sea, we lit the lanterns arranged all around the beach area and the patio and turned on the music we had been compiling for three weeks. We started with the Romantic playlist. Later we would get to the Getting Down playlist and finally to the Get-the-Hell-Out-So-We-Can-Get-Down-To-It playlist.

Alice had worried, vocally and repeatedly, once we outlined our plans to her, that we would regret not going whole hog and having a big, lavish wedding. When our song ended and Edward took my hand to lead me toward the food, Alice met us halfway, throwing her arms around both of us. Jasper was right behind her, his hand protectively curled around her hip.

"You were right! This was so perfect for you. Really. It was beautiful." She stepped back and I could see tears pooling in her eyes, one sliding down her cheek.

"Thank you, Ali. Hey, are you okay?" I asked.

"No, I'm a big, blubbering tub of emotional goo, but I'll be fine soon." She laughed at herself, immediately triggering a fresh round of tears.

I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry with her, so I just hugged her hard. The post-pregnancy hormones weren't being any kinder to her than the pregnancy hormones had been. "Oh, I love you, Alice Brandon-Whitlock!"

"I love you, too, Isabella Swan Cullen! Oh my god, that sounds so weird."

"I think it sounds perfect. And about time," Edward said.

"I have to agree," Jasper said. "There's always room for more Cullens in the world." He leaned in and kissed my cheek, bumping fists with Edward.

Late in the evening, the guests had gone home, leaving only family lounging and visiting in the warm night air. It was much too late for the children to be up, but it was a special occasion. My mom, Renee, was sitting on a deck chair with Delilah snuggled in her arms and Charlie sitting beside her. They were surrounded by Carlisle and Esme, Emmett and Rose and Garret and E.J. Kate was nearby, but busy keeping Molly Kate from leaping into the pool. The later it got, the feistier the little girl got and my money was on Molly Kate to end up in the pool within ten minutes.

As I stood looking around at everyone that mattered most to me in the world, my heart began to pound in my chest. It suddenly felt too good. Too much to expect. The thought that it couldn't be this good forever, that bad things would happen and tough times would have to be weathered, hit me like a punch in the gut. I thought I had unlearned this kind of thinking during the last year with Edward, but here it was catching me completely off-guard.

I felt Edward's warm breath at my ear as his arms wrapped around my waist. "Breathe, sugar."

I took a long, deep breath and blew it out slowly and quietly.

"Where'd you go just now?"

I started to tell him, but I had a feeling he already knew and besides, the moment was past. "I'm right here. Right where I want to be."

He leaned down and I angled up to kiss him just as we heard a splash and a shriek. Everyone's head swiveled toward the pool where Molly Kate was dog paddling happily while Kate stood waist deep in the water, coughing and spluttering.

Garret said, "Oh babe!" And then jumped into the pool with his wife and daughter.

E.J. looked around excitedly but unsure.

"Might as well," Edward told him.

E.J. was the next in. We were laughing in disbelief when Emmett grabbed Rose and took her with him into the water. There was a collective gasp and we all waited to see how exactly Rosalie was going to murder Emmett, but she came up laughing and shrieking.

Carlisle caught my eye and raised his glass to me. "Welcome to the family, Bella." He stood and held out a hand to Esme and they jumped in together. I couldn't quite wrap my head around what was happening and how fast it was happening.

Alice quickly took Delilah from Renee to avoid being tossed in the pool, but she gave Jasper her blessing as long as he took off his shoes and belt and wallet before jumping in. I wasn't surprised that my mom dove right in, but when my dad followed her I was sure someone had drugged the champagne. I laughed so hard my sides ached and I had to run my fingers under my eyes to stop my mascara from running.

Finally everyone was in the pool but Alice and the baby, Edward and me. Edward looked at me, a big grin on his face. "Well, sugar?"

I sighed, "Might as well. Taking a leap has worked out for me in the past."

He took my hand and we ran and leaped headlong.

The End

What more can I say? I hope you loved it as much as I loved writing it.

Epilogue is up next.


	36. Chapter 36 Epilogue

**Everything pertaining to Twilight belongs completely to Stephenie Meyer. I am in no way profiting from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.**

C**hapter****36**

**Epilogue**

**Never _Sleep_ in a Strange Man's Bed**

**18 years later**

**Edward & Bella Swan Cullen **

Edward Anthony Cullen Jr. (Tony) 16 years

Brandon Carlisle Cullen (Brand) 16 years

Jessamine Renee Cullen (Jessa) 14 years

**Emmett & Rosalie Hale Swan**

Charles Hale Swan (Charlie) 18 years

William Emmett Swan (Will) 16 years

Elaine Susan Swan (Lainey) 14 years

Benjamin Michael Swan (Benji) 6 years

**Jasper & Alice Brandon Whitlock**

Delilah Isabella Whitlock (Lila) 19 years

David Cullen Whitlock (Dave) 16 years

**Garrett & Kate Cullen McCaffrey**

Edward Jasper McCaffrey (E.J.) 29 years

Molly Kate McCaffrey (Molly Kate) 21 years

**Bella's POV**

"No."

"Edward—"

"No."

"Dad—"

"Forget it. You're fourteen years old. She's fourteen, Bella. Just no."

Edward was digging his heels in and he didn't know the half of it yet. I had been dreading this moment for three days. I had begged Jessa to just get it over with already, but she knew her father and she wanted to put off the inevitable for a while.

Jessa had been invited on her first date to the homecoming dance at the high school. Problem? Jessa wasn't in high school yet. She was fourteen and in eighth grade. She came to me first, begging me to run interference with Edward, but I wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea myself. The funny thing was that the thing that made me consider it was the very thing that would probably make Edward lock her in her room until she was eighteen.

"Edward, honey, you have to listen. I understand where you're coming from, but you have to at least let her finish a sentence." I tugged his folded arms until he unfolded them and took my hand with a deep breath.

He promised to listen but his expression still said, "No way."

"Um, so, it's just a dance, you know, at the high school. And it's not, he's not—like, a stranger or anything." Jessa stopped and looked pleadingly at me and then Edward.

"I know the boy?" Edward asked. He softened his voice and his expression. It was amazing to me as always to watch father and daughter interact. Jessamine, named after Edward's paternal grandmother, was so like him. From her brilliant green eyes to her hair, just his color, to the mannerisms, it was like watching a feminine mirror image of Edward. She was more like him than either of her older twin brothers, Brand and Tony.

"Yeah. Yes, sir, I mean."

Now Edward was losing the battle to hide a smile. He knew he was being worked. He simply raised an eyebrow and waited.

"It's David, Daddy." Jessa finally blurted it out.

"David?" Edward wracked his brain for a moment and came up empty.

"_David_, honey. Dave Whitlock," I said gently.

If Jessa hadn't been so anxious, I would have laughed at my husband's expression. He looked like he'd been hit over the head with a two-by-four, but just hadn't collapsed yet.

Our youngest child, our only daughter, had been asked out on her first date by David Whitlock, Jasper and Alice's sixteen year old son. I didn't think Edward ever saw this coming—our kids had been raised like cousins all their lives and most of us forgot that there was no blood relation between Jasper and Alice's kids and the rest of ours. But in the last few months I had begun to suspect that Dave and Jessa were quite aware that they were not related and very glad of that fact.

Edward still hadn't spoken long after he should've said _something_, so I decided to put them both out of their misery temporarily.

"Jessa, let your dad and I talk this over tonight and we'll give you an answer in the morning, okay?"

She made a face, but nodded. "Okay. Can I still sleepover at Lainey's?"

"Sure, go ahead. We'll see you in the morning." Lainey was Rose and Em's daughter, also fourteen. They lived just four houses down from us.

I walked Jessa to the door and gave her a big hug, promising we would give it fair consideration.

I lay on my back looking into my husband's still-gorgeous face. He was older, of course. We'd been married for seventeen years after all, but time had done nothing to take away from Edward's looks. If anything he looked better. I often sighed at the unfairness of it all.

Edward was stretched out on his side beside me, propping his head up with one hand and resting the other on my stomach.

"I can't believe the baby you carried in here, wants to go on a date," he said. "With Jasper's kid! Where did the time go, Bella?"

I shook my head, smiling up at him. We got so busy sometimes that we'd go weeks without really talking, just the two of us, about things other than what we needed at the grocery store, what was going on with the kids or what happened at work that day. When these moments of true connection came, they still bowled me over. Edward had not lost the ability to reduce me to a puddle of emotion, either.

"How can you be old enough to have a fourteen year old, much less two sixteen year olds? You still look just the same as you did that first night I found you in my bed, sugar."

I snorted at that even as my stomach did a neat series of backflips. Three kids and 18 years later, I did not look exactly the same. Not that I thought I looked bad, but I was 45. I was a pretty well maintained 45, if I did say so myself, but I was 45 nonetheless.

"You're still such a flatterer," I said. "And if I had it to do over again, _I_ would've jumped _you_ that first night."

"If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't have stopped. That's a night of making love to you I can never get back. That's why I never let an opportunity get by me now."

I giggled—the man still made me giggle and blush like a schoolgirl. I cupped his cheek in my hand and he turned his head to kiss my palm.

"Don't think you can avoid dealing with this problem and it'll go away. I think this thing with Dave and Jessa is just beginning."

"Ugh. You know how to kill a mood, Mrs. Cullen." He flopped onto his back and stared at the ceiling.

"I'm not trying to kill the mood. I just think we owe it to Jessa to make a decision so we can tell her in the morning."

"No problem; the answer is no."

"Edward . . ."

"Stop doing that. I am not being unreasonable. She is fourteen, she's too young to be dating and Dave is too old for her—"

"He's only sixteen." I sat up and turned to face him. "You wouldn't mind if she was sixteen and he was eighteen, would you?"

"Yes, I would. It's still weird. They're family. Jasper's like my brother; they're basically first cousins." He saw me shaking my head at him and huffed. "Don't tell me 'no', they are! You don't think this is weird?"

I shrugged. "It doesn't matter if we find it a little weird. They're not actually related in any way. And you thought it was hilarious when Charlie had a crush on Lila." Charlie was Em and Rose's oldest, only eleven months younger than Jasper and Alice's daughter, Delilah.

"Yeah, but that passed without any dates or swapping of saliva."

"As far as we know."

"Oh, lord! Yuck. We need to widen these kids' social circle. Seriously."

"You'd rather Jessa go out with some boy we don't know? Dave is a great kid, Edward."

"I would rather Jessa not date until I'm dead. Is that too much to ask?"

"Unless you're planning on dying soon—which you better not—yes, that is too much to ask. You can say no to this date, because she really is very young. But sooner or later, she is going to date. And I can't think of a nicer boy for her to have her first official date with."

He covered his face with his hands and growled in frustration. "I hate it when you're all reasonable and progressive. Why don't I ever get to be a caveman anymore?"

I lowered myself on top of him and kissed him when he moved his hands away from his face and wrapped them around my waist. "You've evolved, my love. Sorry." I kissed him again on the lips and then on the neck. "Besides, this way you know where to find the boy if he steps out of line."

We heard the front door open and slam followed by either a herd of elephants or Brand and Tony coming home just two minutes after their curfew. Each of them gave our bedroom door a quick rap and hollered good night. We had taught them over the years not to open our bedroom (or bathroom) door without an express invitation. We called good night and exchanged an exasperated eye roll. Those two idled at loud and went from there. Sometimes it was like raising two Emmetts.

Edward pulled me closer and nuzzled my neck. I could feel his smile against my skin as he kissed me. "I guess it will be fun putting the fear of God into Dave before the dance."

I sighed inwardly. Poor Dave. If he liked Jessa enough romantically to endure what Edward was about to put him through, then he deserved to take her out on her first date.

EPOV

Mom made dinner every Sunday and everyone showed up unless they had a Mom-approved excuse as to why they couldn't. The restaurant, Isabella's, which had become an institution on the Island, was closed Sunday and Monday and Bella had grown to love having this meal made for her. She contributed or helped when Mom asked her, but otherwise just relaxed.

If we men started talking business one of our wives would pinch us (Alice), kick us in the shins (Rosalie) or threaten serious bodily harm (Bella). This was our day to not be co-workers, but family.

This very necessary tradition sprang from a heated work discussion between Emmet and I that almost came to blows at a family dinner. It was the first year we were getting Cullen Projects off the ground and my mistake was confusing Emmett's easygoing personal nature for a pliable business partner. As I have been informed by multiple sources, I have a tendency to steamroll over people trying to get what I want and I tried to steamroll over Emmett on the pricing structure for our estimates. That was the last time I tried to force an issue at work without hearing out everyone involved.

And I wasn't going to bring up business tonight. I was, however, going to talk to Jasper about his son's date with my daughter. Dad, Emmett and the women were playing Dominion—their new game obsession—on the dining room table, while the kids were off doing various kid things. Jasper was stretched out on one of the living room couches having his after meal snooze when I took the chair nearest him.

"Sooo…what's up with your kid asking my kid on a date?"

Jasper opened his eyes and looked around in confusion. "Who? Lilah?"

"No, Dave."

"Dave asked somebody out? … _Jessa_?" Jasper sat up and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck and up the back of his head. Ever since he'd cut his hair short he'd been doing that.

"Yes, _Jessa_. He asked her to the homecoming dance," I said. By now it was obvious that Jasper was as completely in the dark about whatever was going on between our kids as I had been.

"But Jessa's just a kid."  
"I know. But she doesn't seem to think so and Bella's making me let her go."

"I don't like it," Jasper said.

I was thrown off balance by Jasper's reaction. I expected him to be as nonchalant about this as he was about most things. "Yeah?" I said for lack of something better to say.

"They're basically cousins, right? I mean, doesn't that seem a little off-kilter to you?"

"Hell yeah, it does! That's what I was trying to tell Bella, but she wouldn't listen. What happens if they break up and end up hating each other?"

"What happens if they don't break up and end up getting married? The guests at their wedding will be on the groom's side _and_ the bride's side."

I started to laugh a little then, I couldn't help it. "It'll reinforce the Southern stereotype."

"Thank god I never changed my last name to Cullen."

The laughter was starting to get away from me, taking on a strange life of its own. Probably it was just the relief of knowing someone agreed with me about the wrongness of Jessa and Dave dating.

"You people are ridiculous," Alice said, from the entryway to the living room.

"How long you been standing there, honey?" Jasper asked, trying not to snicker.

"Long enough to know you're idiots," she said, but she was smiling. She came in and sat down next to Jasper. "They have a date to one dance and you have them either tearing the family apart or having some sort of hillbilly wedding."

We both tried to settle down and be serious, but it didn't work out very well for very long.

"Did you know Dave was going to ask Jessa out?" Jasper asked.

"Yes, he came to me for advice."

"What did you tell him?"

"To ask her nicely and accept her answer graciously whatever it was," she said as if that were obvious. "And not to tell you."

Jasper stopped laughing at that. "What? Why?"

Alice smirked and pointed back and forth between him and me. "You really have to ask?"

That set Jasper off again which set me off again which brought Bella in from the dining room. "Let me guess, you're talking about the dance."

"Jasper agrees with me that it's creepy," I said smugly.

"Shocking," Bella said, rolling her eyes. "Jasper agrees with you. You and Jasper share the same brain; of course he agrees with you."

"Oh come on. You can't tell me you don't find it the slightest bit odd. We have pictures of them naked in the bathtub together, for god's sake!"

I heard a strange choking noise and looked over to see Jasper getting red in the face with the effort not to laugh. Which made me laugh, which set him off again. At this point my sides were starting to ache and my face hurt, but I couldn't seem to stop.

Bella came and sat on my lap with one arm around my shoulders. "Stop now before they hear you," she said softly. That helped. Once I was under control, she said, "I never said it wasn't a little … surprising, but it's not horrible. They are not actually related and it's one dance."

"If it turns into something, we'll all adjust," Alice added.

Bella nodded. "What else can we do? You want to ruin Jessa's first date by making fun of her and Dave?"

"No," I said, a little ashamed. "I'm just not ready for this. Even if it wasn't Dave."

"Hold up now! That's my son you're talking about," Jasper said, no longer laughing.

"That's not what I meant, at all," I assured him hastily. "I just meant without the weird factor of them being raised together, you know? Dave is a great kid, one of my favorite ones in fact. Bella said Jessa would be lucky to have Dave be her first date. And I agree, of course."

Alice put her hand over her heart and gave Bella a sappy look. Jasper saw it and looked at me, rolling his eyes. "Okay then," he said with a grin.

"You know we feel the same way about Jessa," Alice said. She jumped up, then Bella jumped up and they met in the middle to hug it out. Women.

EPOV

I paid a visit to the Whitlock house the next evening and asked to speak with Dave privately. Jasper shook his head with a knowing smile and pointed me down the hall to Dave's room.

Dave answered my second knock with headphones around his neck.

"Mind if we have a little chat?" I asked walking right in and sitting on his bed. I patted the space next to me and he sat down carefully as if he was thinking he might have to jump up and run.

"So, you're taking Jessa to the homecoming dance?"

"Yes, sir. She said you said it was okay."

"Bella said it was okay," I corrected. "I'm still not sure."

I stood up and turned to face him. He looked so young with his gangly limbs and floppy hair. He reminded me so much of Jasper at this age, though his smile was all his mother's. I loved this kid as much as I loved my own, but I needed to make my point with him.

Walking over to a framed essay hung by the door, I tapped it lightly. "Have you read this lately?" I asked. It was "The True Gentleman" written in 1899 by John Walter Wayland.

Because this essay had such an effect on Jasper and I when we were young teenagers, we had framed a copy and given it to Kate and Garrett when E.J. was born. Then when Rose and Emmett's first son, Charlie, was born, we did the same thing for him. After that it became tradition: for my twin sons, Brand and Tony, for Emmett's younger sons, Will and Benji, and for Jasper's son, David, who was now looking at me like a deer caught in headlights.

"I particularly like this line," I said, pointing it out. "'A man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe.'"

Dave looked horrified. "Jeez, I wouldn't do anything. I'm not like that."

"You're a male. We're all like that. It's just knowing when it's acceptable and when it isn't. And it _isn't_ with my daughter."

"Um, yeah, I know ... Uncle Edward, you know I love Jessa." His eyes went wide and he began back-pedaling furiously. "No, I don't mean, _love_ love! I mean as a person, like family—no, that's…"

"A little strange isn't it?" I said, letting him off the hook.

"A little, yeah." He shrugged and stared at the carpet for a moment. "But not that much."

"She's worth it, right?"

He looked up at me with this big dopey smile and nodded.

"Suck up." I nudged his arm. Maybe a little too hard since he lurched up off the bed and steadied himself on his desk chair. I stood up to leave, patting him on the back more gently.

"Okay," I said, looking him in the eye. "Okay. That's all I have to say on the matter." I started to leave, but turned back. "For now," I said sternly.

Dave laughed nervously. "I get it."

I tapped the framed essay as I left the room. "Reread it."

"I will" Dave said.

When I got home, I went in the boys' bedroom and reread it myself:

_"The True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety, and whose self-control is equal to all emergencies; who does not make the poor man conscious of his poverty, the obscure man of his obscurity, or any man of his inferiority or deformity; who is himself humbled if necessity compels him to humble another; who does not flatter wealth, cringe before power, or boast of his own possessions or achievements; who speaks with frankness but always with sincerity and sympathy; whose deed follows his word; _

_who thinks of the rights and feelings of others, rather than his own; and who appears _

_well in any company, a man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe."_

_John Walter Wayland (Virginia 1899)_

Yep. Still made me want to strive to be a better man.

BPOV

Returning home from a serious trip to the grocery store later that week, I pulled into the garage and sat for a moment behind the wheel of my car. I really hated grocery shopping and it seemed to me like an insult on top of an injury to have to lug all the heavy bags into the house and put away all the food. Like having to pay the dentist a fortune to do things to you that you really didn't want done in the first place.

I got out of the car when I was done feeling sorry for myself, gathered as many bags as I could carry and wrestled them into the house, down the hall into the kitchen. I heard the familiar sound of Halo on my family room TV and looked in to see Brand and Tony lying on opposite sides of the sofa staring mindlessly at the screen while their hands worked the controllers frantically.

"Guys? Hello? Can I get a little help?"

They both turned their heads toward me without actually taking their eyes off the screen. Tony muttered, "Sure, jus' sec." And Brand nodded.

I waited a full minute without seeing another movement out of them. "Brand! Tony! Get the rest of the groceries out of my car. Now!"

They paused the game and jumped up.

"Jeez, Mom. All you have to do is ask," Brand said, grinning and scooting around me to avoid a kick in the seat of his pants.

My big strong, strapping sixteen year old sons brought all the bags in with one trip. They were useful sometimes. The two boys were fraternal twins, but still looked very much alike. Not so much that you couldn't tell them apart, thankfully. Brand was 6'2, just even with his dad, with reddish brown hair and my eyes. Tony was slightly smaller than Brand at 6'0 with the same hair color, but eyes all his own, a clear, striking hazel. Tony further distinguished himself from his brother by wiping out on a dirt bike when he was twelve resulting in a small, jagged scar just below his left eye. When his siblings and cousins wanted to bug him, they called him Harry Potter.

Tony plunked the last bags on the counter and began rooting around in them. "What took you so long, anyway? We're starving."

"The grocery store was packed and then I had to pick up your sister's dress, you ungrateful monster."

"Dress? You're making her wear a dress for something?" Brand looked skeptical.

"Dave is taking Jessa to the dance at the high school," I said, trying to act like it was no big deal.

"Huh?" Brand gave me a blank look, but I knew he heard and understood me just fine. I just shot him a look and went about putting away the food.

"That is so wrong. I'm going to have a talk with our friend _Dave_." Tony's face was bright red.

"I think your dad will handle that."

"I'll help."

Tony was like a disturbing cross between Edward and Emmett. Jessa was going to have a hard time dating anyone with him for a brother. Brand was protective, too, but in a more reasonable way. Brand and Jessa got along more as equals—sometimes friends, sometimes enemies—but equals. Tony, on the other hand, saw himself as an authority figure over his sister, a secondary line of defense behind Edward and I.

"Speak of the devil," Tony said, as Jessa ran down the stairs jumping over the last three and landing on her feet with a resounding thud.

"Hey Moms, where's my dress? And who's the devil of whom you speak, brother dear?"

"You. Why didn't you tell me Dave asked you out?"

Jessa's face immediately lit up with a fierce and angry blush. "I don't have to tell you anything. Who I go out with is none of your business!"

"The hell it—"

"Tony!"

"Oh please, Mom. I'm sixteen years old, I think I can say hell."

"Right, cause that makes you a grown up. He says a lot worse things than that when you're not around, Mom!"

"Don't change the subject," Tony said, getting right in Jessa's face.

My 5'5" daughter went up on her tip toes and squared off with her 6'0 brother. "The subject is you sticking your big fat nose where it doesn't belong. I am going to the homecoming dance with David and there's nothing you can do about it!"

With that, she stormed back up the stairs and slammed her bedroom door hard enough to rattle the windows.

Tony glared at me as if he was waiting for my outraged response to Jessa's outburst. I shrugged and patted him on the shoulder. "She's right, Tone. There's nothing you can do about it, so let it go." He continued to fume, so I began to put groceries away around him, while trying to tease him into a better mood. "Give it wings, set it free, let it fly. Get over it."

Finally he huffed into the family room and threw himself back onto the couch to play Halo.

The night of the dance everyone behaved as well as could be expected. I was afraid Jessa and David would be blinded by all the cameras flashing in their faces, but they eventually escaped unharmed. We had all met at Carlisle and Esme's house since it seemed a little more like neutral ground, but it was still a little awkward. Mostly when Tony tried to insist that Jessa and Dave should ride to the dance with him, Brand and Will.

"For what possible reason could you need to take another car? Don't you care about the environment?" Tony said facetiously when Jess and Dave objected.

Fortunately, Edward had adjusted his own attitude enough to take Tony aside and tell him to knock it off.

In fact, Edward did an admirable job of pretending to be okay with it until the taillights of Dave's restored '65 Mustang had disappeared down the driveway. But when everyone else went inside, he collapsed on the front porch glider looking dejected.

"I hate the way she looked at him. It kind of broke my heart," he said, as soon as we were alone. His head was bowed, his gaze focused on his hands as they rested on his knees.

Jessa had barely taken her eyes off of the boy, while Dave had tried and failed to play it cool, sneaking repeated glances at my beautiful daughter, grinning like mad every time she smiled at him.

I was afraid if I said anything now I would disrupt this moment of emotional clarity so we sat quietly listening to the faint creak of the porch swing as we rocked gently back and forth.

Finally he said, "I know they're just kids. But it's her first real step away from being my little girl. She's going to grow up and fall in love and have her own life."

"That's good, though. I know it's hard, but it's what's supposed to happen. And having you for a dad is going to make her standards really high when she's looking for the right man."

He turned his head toward me and rolled his eyes, but his smile said he was pleased. Sitting back, he put his arm around my shoulder and sighed. "She's not going to need me anymore."

It wasn't easy trying to be the reasonable one in this situation. It was hard enough watching my sons sever the apron strings one by one as they grew up. Jessa was my baby and I didn't like the idea of her dating, starting high school, much less going off to college and then her own life, but I knew it was the right thing. The alternative was an emotionally stunted adult living with us forever.

Suddenly, thoughts of my own dad popped into my head. I wished he was still around so I could tell him I understood now; that I knew how hard it had been for him and my mom to let me go. It had been almost two years since a heart attack took him, but it hurt just as much as ever when these moments caught me. I resolved to call my mom when we got home and pulled my mind back to the present.

I told my sweet husband the same thing I tried to tell myself. "Your kids will always need you, Edward. Just in different ways."

This time he skipped the eye rolling and just leaned into me, resting his head on top of mine.

"I love you, my beautiful Bella."

"I love you, too, Edward. Always."

**A/N:** I'd love to know what you thought, but no bagging on Jessa's name. It actually is a family name for me and I like it even though it's odd and old-fashioned. Note that my daughter is not named that, though. Hubby said no.

Any lingering questions? Things you think should've been covered? I might try a similar "moment in time" epilogue for Emmett and Rose and Jasper and Alice.

Also, please don't hate me for killing off Charlie. I love him, but I wanted to add at least a little realism into Bella and Edward's seemingly perfect life. We all have tragedies in our lives, big or small. I hope you all have someone loving and kind to help you weather yours. If not, keep your eyes open. They are out there.

Finally, the name of the story: From the beginning I thought I was being funny. I meant the emphasis to be on Sleep—as if you should do other things in a strange man's bed. That's my peculiar sense of humor, not a suggestion.

Paige


	37. Chapter 37 Explanations & Apologies

I'm really sorry if I blew up anyone's email with the update notifications. Somehow I lost the entire story and had to repost everything chapter by chapter including the six new chapters and the epilogue. Something like this always seems to happen when I try to post here, but I think it's me.

Thanks again for reading, those of you who remember the story from long ago and any new readers!

Paige


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